MotoGP Features

Kawasaki were arguably the revelation of the 2004 MotoGP season, advancing from the rear of the field the previous season to become regularly features in the top ten - and leading the team green attack was star rider Shinya Nakano, recruited from d'Antin Yamaha at the end of 2003.

Bridgestone, who won their first two MotoGP races with Camel Honda's Makoto Tamada this season, look set to expand their premier-class line-up further for 2005.

Valencia is a circuit that offers good camber combined with an abrasive surface, but on a slightly undulating layout. It sports many stop-and-go 90-degree corners, bumps and a tight design which has claimed its fair share of victims via front-end loses.

Newly crowned five-times AMA Superbike champion Mat Mladin has stated that he's unlikely to return to premier-class GP racing - and has no interest in World Superbikes.

As the usual end of season rumours spread through the paddock like a forest fire in recent weeks, the wheelers and dealers in the business of putting bums on saddles all sought the answer to a very important question - where will the next MotoGP talent emerge from?

With considerably more than 200bhp at their command from their Yamaha YZR-M1s, Valentino Rossi, Carlos Checa, Marco Melandri and Norick Abe will have the tools to compete with their peers at the fast Phillip Island circuit.

Here are some of the latest credible rumours passed on to Crash.net by sources within the Sepang paddock:

the latest news from around the world, courtesy of press snoop Lynne Huntting

Most people reckoned that Red Bull would be underwriting the estimated $2million cost for safety upgrades to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in order for FIM approval of the 2005 Moto GP. But not so. Red Bull will be the title sponsor for the 2005 US Grand Prix, but the cost for improvements will be borne by Yamaha, which is pleased to do so and celebrate its 50th anniversary with 100,000 fans.

Due to the Sepang circuit's hairpins and numerous hard braking areas a fast lap comes down to braking stability and the bike's turn-in characteristics. Two such areas include the combination of long straights and hairpins that make up the final sequence of the 5542m layout.

Valentino Rossi has rejected rumours that he is set to switch to Formula One next season - by confirming that he'll stay in MotoGP, with Yamaha, until at least the end of 2005.

Aprilia MotoGP rider Jeremy McWilliams was an interested observer at the Imola World Superbike round today (Friday), where he admitted that a switch to WSBK was 'getting more like reality' and that while he could stay in MotoGP next season he 'quite fancies a change' in the near future.