Big changes for MotoGP 2004 line-up

Honda’s lead man?
By Dan Moakes
November 6 2003

Valentino Rossi has won the last three premier class Grand Prix championships, with Honda’s NSR500 and RC211V models. But for 2004, the Italian will be joining another team, and most people suspect this means Yamaha. The last Yamaha World Champion was Wayne Rainey in 1992, so it’ll be interesting.

But if Rossi has anything going for him, above and beyond his great riding talents, it is the technical assistance of Jerry Burgess. And rumours suggest that Burgess, and some of Rossi’s crew, are part of the deal for 2004. Rossi always wants to win, and this will mean beating both Honda and Ducati. With only two victories in thirty-two races, the Yamaha YZR-M1 could probably use a little development.

What does this mean for the full Yamaha line-up? Well, the rumours suggest that Alex Barros is the likely replacement for Rossi, in the works Repsol team. Nicky Hayden will be retained as the second rider after an impressive début year. Honda saw what Barros could do on the RCV at the end of 2002, when he won twice in four outings, so this would make sense.

Both Carlos Checa and Marco Melandri are said to be staying with Yamaha, although Rossi may be joining the Fortuna team. This suggests that Melandri could be moving over to the Gauloises Tech 3 team, to fill Barros’ saddle. However, Olivier Jacque, Shin’ya Nakano and Norick Abe are all loyal Yamaha riders, and there may only be four M1s racing throughout 2004.

Two of Honda’s Japanese riders are thought to be moving on next year, as neither Tohru Ukawa nor youngster Ryuichi Kiyonari are being kept on, apparently. Fausto Gresini’s Telefónica MoviStar squad will be keeping hold of title runner-up Sete Gibernau, and he is to be paired with the marque’s double World Superbike champion Colin Edwards, who has had a tricky time on the Aprilia GP bike, but knows how to win.

Both Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada will be with Honda in 2004, suggesting that the Pramac and Pons organisations will stay linked to run these two. Biaggi and Pons will surely run on Michelin tyres again, while Tamada’s RCV will stay on the promising Bridgestones that helped him reach the podium during 2003.

The works Ducati squad is expected to be unchanged in 2004, but there will also be a satellite team, run by Luís d’Antín. The Spaniard’s operation had loaned one of it’s grid slots to Pramac, but will take this back to run two Desmosedicis as the link-up with Yamaha comes to an end. As has been rumoured for a while, the team leader will be World Superbike champion Neil Hodgson. His team-mate may also be familiar, if d’Antín opts for countryman Rubén Xaus, as has been suggested.

With Aprilia having lost Edwards, and let go of Noriyuki Haga, they will surely be looking for an experienced rider to lead development. Interestingly, Garry McCoy’s association with Kawasaki has come to end after a disappointing season, with Alex Hofmann to step in full-time alongside Andrew Pitt. Suzuki’s riders, Kenny Roberts and John Hopkins, are not going anywhere, so could McCoy be a target for Aprilia?

All these questions will be answered. In time...