By Gwenyth King, SportsPics
April 18 2004

Over 45,000 spectators under the brilliant blue skies at the Phakisa Raceway were joined by television viewers in the rest of the world to watch the opening race of the 2004 MotoGP season, and got far more than they bargained for.

photos by www.SportsPics.co.za

BetandWin.com Africa’s Grand Prix 2004 - Phakisa, South Africa

Valentino Rossi - photo by www.SportsPics.co.za

In the pits on Sunday morning there was a short, sombre moment as the Telefónica MoviStar Honda team remembered the late Daijiro Kato with a minute silence. Several of the riders wore black armbands during the race. Then it was Game On, as racing commenced.

MotoGP
Any team orders that Honda might have given went out of the window as Max Biaggi (Camel Honda) and Sete Gibernau (Telefónica MoviStar Honda) battled it out for the first couple of laps for second place behind Valentino Rossi.

Gibernau had to settle for a lonely third place ride, in front of fourth place Alex Barros (Repsol Honda), leaving Rossi and Biaggi in an incredible race-long, tyre-to-tyre battle which lasted from lap three until the finish line.

Valentino Rossi leads Max Biaggi - photo by www.SportsPics.co.za

Biaggi took the lead for a second time with only five laps to the finish, but couldn’t hold it and, with only two laps left, Valentino Rossi squeezed down the inside. For a split second it looked like the two bikes would touch as Rossi went through to take the lead and win the opening race of the 2004 MotoGP.

Before returning to the pits, he stopped briefly on the track where it appeared he was crying, as mixed emotions took hold. He kissed the bike’s windshield before re-mounting and returning to the pit lane, and the accolades of the crowd and his pit crew.

Rossi, who is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest motorcycle racers, made history as the first rider ever to win consecutive premier-class races with different manufacturers, and the first since his hero, Barry Sheene, to win the opening round of the season for four years running.

Alex Barros came home in fourth place in front of newcomer Nicky Hayden in fifth (Repsol Honda) and Loris Capirossi in sixth (Ducati Marlboro). Shane Byrne (MS Aprilia) opened his MotoGP career in style and collected one point towards a possible 2004 ‘Rookie of the Year’ classification.

125cc
New unofficial record (151,633) for Locatelli as Dovizioso takes the win.

Roberto Locatelli got off to a good start, closely followed by Andrea Dovizioso, who today had the second pole of his fledgling career. Behind them was Casey Stoner. Pablo Nieto stalked the leading three but was unable to secure a podium finish.

It was the youngster Dovizioso (Kopron Team Scot) though who fought a tremendous last minute battle with the experienced Locatelli (Safilo Carrera-LCR), who took second place in front of the promising Casey Stoner (Red Bull KTM).

250cc
Is Dani Pedrosa the new Rossi?

After scoring victory in the 125cc class, Pedrosa (Telefónica MoviStar Honda) moved up to the 250cc class and, at the opening-season race in Welkom, the teenager (he will be 19 in September) took an early lead, opening up a gap between himself and pole position rider Randy de Puniet (Safilo Carrera-LCR).

De Puniet fought back valiantly and had the lead on the last lap, only to be beaten in the final dramatic moments by the determined youngster who, reminiscent of Rossi, did not seem to mind if he overtook on the inside or outside.

Almost forgotten was Sebastián Porto’s (Repsol-Aspar Team) incredible finish in third place, after fighting his way back from a detour onto the grass and across the oval section of the track on the second lap, which saw him drop back to 14th.

Randy de Puniet set a new pole record at the Welkom circuit, beating his own previous record, but Dani Pedrosa showed the crowd what racing is all about and scored a much deserved first place. Making it a second race win for Honda.