By Dan Moakes
November 21 2002

The 2003 MotoGP championship looks like being a fascinating mix of great riders on a wide variety of four-stroke machinery. If Honda is ever going to face stiff opposition, this could be the time. Although Steve Hislop, the British Superbike champion, has now secured a ride that will allow him to defend his title, the Grands Prix will see a veritable who’s who of motorbike champions. Valentino Rossi, Kenny Roberts, Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, Daijiro Kato and Olivier Jacque remain in the leading category next year, but are joined by Colin Edwards, Troy Bayliss, Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden, not to mention Andrew Pitt.

Edwards’ recent graduation to the Aprilia GP team has already been documented here, but he has now been joined in the squad by fellow Superbike star Noriyuki Haga. The Japanese rider has been with the same manufacturer throughout 2002, but now makes his second full-time assault on the GP scene, following a disappointing year with Yamaha WCM in 2001. This duo have already begun testing the RS³ Cube, and of course this means that four of the top five from WSBK have moved on, with Bayliss and Ben Bostrom also racing elsewhere.

Hayden, the new team-mate to champion Rossi, makes up a foursome of Americans in the series, with Roberts, Edwards and John Hopkins. The current AMA Superbike title holder has also begun his test program with the RC211V, and has the unenviable task of trying to match up to the standard setting Rossi.

In Superbike racing, there has been a rumour that 1993 World Champion Scott Russell could be making a comeback to the series, where he would likely ride an HMC Ducati. The fourteen-time race winner, who also raced successfully in GPs, last appeared in the championship in 1998.

The remainder of developments surround the British championship, where quite a few changes have come to light. Firstly, Honda will have a works presence in the series after a bit of an absence, with the former Castrol Team of Colin Edwards moving over with Steve Plater as their sole rider. Plater’s defection from Virgin Mobile Aiwa Yamaha has left the way clear for Steve Hislop to return to the team he raced with in 1999 and 2000, following his replacement at MonsterMob Ducati.

Meanwhile, over at Suzuki, former champion John Reynolds has been joined by long term factory rider Yukio Kagayama. The Japanese test rider has a wealth of Superbike experience in his national series, as well as a number of World Championship wildcard entries, in both SBK and GP, to his name.