MotoGP Features

It now looks certain that Honda will block any attempts by Valentino Rossi and Yamaha to get the Italian onto their M1 before his HRC contract ends on 1/1/2004, thus reducing Rossi's input into next year's machine considerably.

Following yesterday's announcement that Valentino Rossi would be joining Yamaha, Mick Doohan - HRC's general manager of racing - has given a multiple world champion's insight on the biggest shake-up in the premier-class for over a decade.

Max Biaggi's first season as a Honda RCV rider came to a disappointing end as the double 2003 race winner limped home in fourth place at Valencia - after suffering from a lack of engine braking.

With deadlines and final offers having come and gone, Valentino Rossi continues to hold MotoGP hostage - intentionally or not - by refusing to announce his future plans with just one more GP to go this season.

Last Sunday at Phillip Island, Olivier Jacque and Shinya Nakano reinacted one of the most spectacular two-wheeled championship deciders ever seen, outside of the famed Edwards/Bayliss WSBK battle.

It's a shame that Graziano Rossi is not a great fan of air travel as, for the fourth time out of five, a proud father has missed the chance of celebrating a world title with his son because he will not venture up the steps of the 'silver bird'.

It has been revealed that the decisions to exclude Makoto Tamada from third at Motegi, and ban John Hopkins from this weekend's race at Malaysia, were taken without examining telemetry from any of the riders concerned.

Max Biaggi's first on-track victory of the 2003 season at Motegi was overshadowed by two controversial decisions by the FIM, which saw Makoto Tamada stripped of his third place finish, and John Hopkins banned from this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The quietly spoken, but always polite, Tohru Ukawa admits he's facing a crucial time in his MotoGP career - and arrives at Motegi this weekend fighting to keep his Honda ride.

This weekend at Motegi, the Moriwaki Racing team will make their second MotoGP appearance of the season, with Tamaki Serizawa riding the fantastically named 'Morwaki Dream Fighter'.

The FIM has announced that Suzuka, the traditional home of the season opening Japanese Grand Prix, has been removed from the 2004 calendar.

The main news to come out of Honda's Portuguese Grand Prix technical presentation was that there will be one less RCV on the MotoGP grid next season, that Valentino Rossi's contract talks are still continuing and that the V5 RCV is likely to race for at least one more year.

Sources close to Crash.net have indicated that both Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt could lose their seats at Kawasaki, as team green calls-up AMA Superbike star Eric Bostrom to join Alex Hofmann in 2004.

Antonio Cobas, technical director of the Camel Pramac Pons team, describes the challenges that will face the MotoGP teams at this weekend's Czech Republic Grand Prix...

The ongoing attempts by Ducati to obtain more grid slots for 2004, for Neil Hodgson and one other rider, appears to be reaching a successful conclusion with an announcement possible as early as next month.

Speaking at the pre-event press conference in Germany, Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi both gave announcements regarding their future with Honda, Rossi commenting on his contract negotiations and Biaggi his race machinery.

Sympathy is certainly not a word used frequently when Max Biaggi ever discusses the fortunes of his bitter rival Valentino Rossi, but it was on Max?s agenda after the events at Donington last weekend.

Sources in the Italian press are indicating that former four-times 250cc world champion Max Biaggi will be given a full factory Honda RCV - as ridden by arch-rival Valentino Rossi - from the Czech Grand Prix onwards.

The television companies were happy, the 75,000 crowd understood what was going on and Sete Gibernau took full advantage of the situation.

Located in the beautiful Tuscan hills, Mugello boasts a sequence of undulating medium to high-speed corners combined with a straight where even the former 500 two-strokes were capable of producing an outright top speed of 315kmh.

This Sunday at Le Mans the MotoGP competitors will be competing for the honour of winning the landmark 600th premier-class Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Tohru Ukawa might knows he's popular, but even the mild mannered Japanese rider would be surprised to learn that around 320 million people cheered as he suddenly appeared underneath the elbow of Brazilian Alex Barros in Jerez.

After losing out to Sete Gibernau in Africa two weeks previously, World Champion Valentino Rossi proved his doubters wrong with a dominate display in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, beating nearest rival Max Biaggi by 6secs.

Following the tragic events at Suzuka three weeks previously, MotoGP regrouped in Africa with the loss of Daijiro Kato at the forefront of everyone's minds.