By Dan Moakes
May 27 2004

With Honda having dominated the last decade, you wouldn’t bet against them leading the way again in 2004. Of course, their recent supremacy has been tied to a couple of superstar riders - Mick Doohan and Valentino Rossi - both of whom were very firm about what they wanted from their bikes. The latest line-up is not without star names, but it remains to be seen how Honda will fair without Rossi’s leadership. Of the men who might emerge as the natural leader, Max Biaggi has the best GP record. So far he has not been blessed with a full works-spec RC211V, though, whereas his Repsol rivals are effectively the HRC factory team. With the most experience in the field, Alex Barros will be another man to watch and, like Biaggi and Sete Gibernau, he has prior victories on the RCV to his name. But Sete is the man with the most laps on the factory-spec bike, and proved a tough challenger in 2003.

Three more men ride a Honda in 2004, all of whom make up for lacking MotoGP experience with successful Superbike careers. Nicky Hayden and Makoto Tamada both have a year on the bike, whereas Colin Edwards moves over from the tricky Aprilia. Even so, the Texan could be the biggest threat, if his development record with the title-winning SP-1 and SP-2 Superbikes is taken into account.

The Ducati Desmosedici emerged as ‘best of the rest’ last year, in only its first season, and would seem a likely race winner in 2004. Team leader Loris Capirossi is always a threat, and you cannot rule out the determination of Troy Bayliss, especially with his ‘learning’ year completed. 2003-spec machines will be handled by the d’Antín team, which runs the number one and two WSB riders of ’03 - Neil Hodgson and Rubén Xaus. Of this pair, Hodgson has significant GP experience, whereas Xaus is more likely to go over the limit whilst getting up to speed...

The big question is how Yamaha’s M1 will fair with Rossi heading up the development programme. The bike was able to challenge at times during its début season, but has faired less well since losing Biaggi. It is not a slow machine, so if there has been progress made with the handling, Valentino is good enough to win races on it. It may not be consistently up there, but if signs are positive he could be joined in combat by Carlos Checa, Norick Abe and Marco Melandri. All three have the ability to win, but only if the Yamaha is up to the job.

Of the rest, perhaps Aprilia and Proton have the greatest potential, although the pedigree of Suzuki and Kawasaki should not be ignored. All of these manufacturers will need to make significant strides forward, but the steepest learning curve faces the Harris WCM riders. They will at least have had time on the bike this year, assuming they have been signed up in advance of the season.

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