West Honda Pons head for Japan.

Last year Emerson Honda Pons were the only team to have both their riders win Grand Prix, and as the newly named West Honda Pons squad arrive in Japan they have high hopes of building on last years success.

The 2001 season that kicks off at Suzuka in Japan on Sunday has something to live up to after last year, which saw eight separate winners of the 16 Grand Prix, a new World Champion crowned and the first son to win the title that had been his father's domain, and a rookie in the 500cc class who not only won Grand Prix but finished runner-up in the Championship.

Brazilian Barros advises us to sit back and enjoy the action.

"I think that this season will be even more competitive than last year," he revealed after the extensive West Honda Pons pre-season test programme that saw the team at Jerez, Estoril, Valencia, Barcelona and Suzuka perfecting the NSR Honda machines they hope will bring them World Championship success.

"All the stars from last year's championship have remained while World Champion Olivier Jacque and his team-mate Shinya Nakano and Tohru Ukawa have come from the MotoGP 250 class. Former World Superbike star Noriyuki Haga joins McCoy at Yamaha and so while last year was good I am certain this season will be even better."

Team-mate Capirossi is under no illusions about the battles that lie ahead for the team in the 16-round Championship that finishes in Brazil in early November.

"It should be a fantastic year with so many riders capable of winning Grand Prix," explained the former 125 and 250cc World Champion. "It will be a very tough year for everybody and staying clear of injury will be vital to any rider wanting to win the title."

Last year both Barros and Capirossi won Grand Prix to set themselves up perfectly for this season. Barros was almost the forgotten man of MotoGP at the start of last year. The Brazilian's one and only grand prix victory was way back in 1993 at Jarama in Spain and it was only a last minute intervention by Sito Pons that kept him a MotoGP ride.

The 30-year-old Brazilian repaid the faith shown in him by the Team Manager and hit superb form in his 14th season of Grand Prix racing. He produced a masterful performance in the rain to win the Dutch Grand Prix and then fought off the considerable challenge of hot-shot Valentino Rossi to win the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring. Barros finished a brilliant fourth in the championship and can't wait for the action to start at Suzuka on Sunday.

"Pre-season testing has gone well and I feel confident after last season," said Barros, who made his grand prix debut way back in 1986. "Obviously I have a great deal of grand prix experience and last year I was able to use that. I was unlucky not to win more races last year and this year I think I can really challenge at the top. A good start to the season will be very important and so a good result on Sunday is vital.

"Usually we are at a disadvantage when we race at Suzuka because all the Japanese riders have tested at the track. This time we have also tested there just a couple of weeks before the grand prix and so we should be much better prepared than in previous years."

Capirossi returned to the MotoGP 500 class last year after three very successful years in the 250cc class that included a World Championship title in 1998. The 27-year-old Italian is a member of a very select riders' club having won 125, 250 and 500cc Grand Prix.

His only 500cc victory was in the 1996 Australian Grand Prix until May last year when he had the partisan Mugello crowd going wild winning the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, fighting off countrymen Max Biaggi and Rossi, who both crashed trying to catch him.

However, it was not an easy year for Capirossi who sustained two bad hand injuries but still finished seventh on his return to the 500's. Fitness will play a key part in his chances of adding a 500cc title to his 250 and 125cc crowns this year.

"I'm starting the season fit which is really important after all the problems I had last year.," explained Capirossi, who won his first 125cc World Championship in 1990. "Our pre-season testing has gone well despite me having to miss some days because of the flu. I'm confident after last year and the team has worked really hard to get us well prepared for the opening race."

Of course doing well at that first race of the year is important but history shows, don't bet on what happens at Suzuka to be a pointer for the reminder of the year. Since the first Grand Prix there, won by Randy Mamola in 1987, only twice has the race been won by the rider going on to win the title.

The Suzuka race has not always opened the year but it's always been in that opening sequence of Grand Prix before the start of the European season. Wayne Rainey in 1990 and Michael Doohan in 1997 are the only two riders to win at Suzuka and go on to clinch the title in the same year.

Privately the majority of riders will be happy to finish high in the points at Suzuka on Sunday and at Welkom in South Africa two weeks later to arrive at the first European round of the season, the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez injury free. Then the fun and games really start.