HONDA:

Lots of questions at Honda: With the Rossi era at Honda now over, how will the HRC factory team fare this season? Will the transition be smooth, and who is the lead rider in the Honda camp for 2004?

Rossi's seat at Repsol Honda has been taken by Grand Prix veteran Brazilian Alex Barros after a winter-long battle of wills between Altadis, with whom Barros did have a contract for 2004, and Repsol YPF, title sponsor of the factory Honda squad, who wished to acquire the services of Barros for the forthcoming season. As Repsol YPF has major holdings in South America, having a Brazilian on board their machine is a key marketing initiative on that continent.

Certain details in Barros' contract were apparently flawed, which allowed the 33-year-old to escape the second year of that Altadis contract and re-sign with Honda with whom he had ridden the RC211V bike during the last four rounds of 2002 after spending the rest of that season aboard the two-stroke NSR500 with the West Honda Pons team during the transitional year from two-stroke to four-stroke. Barros will be aiming to use all his experience from a long Grand Prix career which started in 1986 in the 80cc class to fulfill the expectations of many who now are claiming he should be a lead contender for the 2004 title after landing a full HRC factory ride in what will be his 18th Grand Prix season. Can Barros finally deliver a world title and, in doing so, continue the success story of the Repsol team?

Beating your teammate is the first priority, and that won't be easy with young gun American Nicky Hayden who was a rookie to the class in 2003. Hayden adapted well to the four-stroke 990cc prototype during the first half of 2003 and, during the second half of last year's campaign, he rose steadily through the finishing order to get on the podium at both Motegi and Phillip Island. Hayden looked a lot more comfortable with his factory Honda going into the last rounds of 2003, and much is expected of the former AMA Superbike champion during this upcoming campaign. Recent performances during winter tests on board the 2004-spec factory Honda have shown that he is ready to step forward and challenge the established front runners on a regular basis.

Barros and Hayden are an interesting partnership for sure-the old hand and the young charger. One issue that will certainly be worth watching carefully this season is that a strong political game may be played out within the Honda ranks with the factory team sure to come under massive pressure from two enormously talented customer team packages. The Repsol contract with HRC ensures that Barros and Hayden receive the development parts first during the season but, should a customer rider get out in front of the pack, will HRC take that Repsol contract agreement to the very limits of its framework to back the rider in his quest to win the title over the main HRC duo (especially if the likes of Rossi are breathing down their necks)?

With that said, who are these talent-laden satellite teams who will be campaigning customer RC211V Hondas? The first is the Fausto Gresini-managed Telefonica Movistar Honda team that will field 2003 championship runner-up Spaniard Sete Gibernau and the Texas Tornado Colin Edwards II. Gibernau adapted well to the V5 Honda from the start of winter testing last year and beat Valentino Rossi four times during some of the most exciting races of the championship last year. Gibernau and the RC211V Honda were not a partnership that was expected to be in the reckoning for a title push at the start of 2003, with Gibernau's inconsistent career stats leaving many fans undecided as to whether he was worthy of any long-term Grand Prix commitment from Honda (aside from his strong sponsorship ties). He silenced all the critics in the wake of the death of his teammate Daijiro Kato and showed himself to be extremely strong in the aftermath of that tragedy both as a professional PR vehicle for the Gresini team and, more importantly, on track. Gibernau was admired worldwide for his strength of character. Out of a dark time for the series came a revelation and, maybe indirectly, that was the making of Sete Gibernau as a real contender. He will surely be one of the favorites to take the title this season based on that form and coupled with another solid preseason testing performance. He looks strong and, with his relationship with crew chief Juan Martinez, the Spaniard will be tough to beat.

Gibernau has a new teammate for this season with Ryuichi Kyonari departing to the British Superbike series after finding MotoGP difficult to settle into. Two-time World Superbike Champion Colin Edwards, who contested 2003 on board the RS3 Aprilia Cube bike before escaping the second year of his contract with the Noale-based factory, rejoins the manufacturer with whom he won both Superbike titles in 2000 and 2002, as well as three Suzuka Eight-Hours titles in 1996, 2001 and 2002. Results on the technologically revolutionary Aprilia machine did not fulfill expectations for the Texan, and his contract allowed him to leave the Italian marque for Honda at the end of 2003.

Castrol-backed Edwards, known for his unflappable determination and fast, smooth riding style and competitive nature, will be a formidable teammate for Gibernau, and a strong relationship between Edwards and Michelin is as important as ever. The Texan will be a fan favorite to challenge for the title in 2004 with a Honda V5 underneath him and, during winter testing, Edwards- with a string of front-running lap times-has been showing just why Honda was prepared to mend old bridges and bring him back in from the cold. The partnership of Edwards and crew chief Fabrizio Cecchini, who is also team technical director, is blooming with Edwards claiming during winter testing that he has already learned a great deal from the man, and the same seems to be true in reverse with the Italian stating that Edwards is providing some tremendous feedback to him. Both Gresini riders appear to have an extremely solid team behind them in every respect, and many journalists, former riders, and pundits alike are predicting that the 2004 World Champion may well come from this team.

The other satellite Honda team is the Sito Pons-run Camel Pramac Honda squad consisting of premier-class stalwart and four-time 250cc World Champion Italian Max Biaggi and Japanese rising star Makoto Tamada. Biaggi, the arch-nemesis of fellow Italian Rossi for many years, will be revelling in the fact that Rossi has left the factory Honda team and is faced with a challenging job developing the 2004-spec M1 Yamaha into a race-winning machine. Biaggi is now the one who has to answer his critics as the nearly man of the recent era in the premier class by taking his first world title and, with the likes of engineer Antonio Cobas and chief mechanic Santiago Mulero to assist him, Biaggi operates from a position of strength.

Winter testing has been a mixed one for Biaggi with the first tests of the preseason going well on board the 2003 Rossi-spec RCV but at the Barcelona and Jerez official IRTA tests, on board the 2004 version of the bike, a lack of testing time due to bad weather seems to have hindered Biaggi more than other HRC riders. Racing and testing are two totally separate things, so Biaggi fans will be hoping that lack of track time is a mere blip in the proceedings. Tamada may be on the same team as Biaggi with the same bike underneath him, but he is contesting the 2004 season with Bridgestone rubber.

The other five Hondas on the grid will all be shod with Michelin rubber.

Tamada, under the ever-watchful eye of team chief Gianluca Montiron, started his association with Bridgestone last season when he rode for the Pramac satellite team in a one-man set-up and will be on the front line in terms of giving Bridgestone feedback on its product while trying to be a thorn in the side of the front runners with his own push for the title. Tamada is one of the men responsible for the early development in Japan of the RC211V. Even though Biaggi and Tamada run on different race rubber, they are both housed under the same pit roof, as both men are contractually associated with the Italian company Pramac. Biaggi, in fact, has a three-year deal with them. Title sponsor will remain tobacco company Camel with the familiar yellow livery adorning both Pons machines. Biaggi's name will appear high on the list with the bookmakers for this year's crown, especially since he is the only rider to have won a race on both the Yamaha M1 and the Honda V5.

The six-rider HRC lineup is arguably the strongest the factory has ever had on the grid and stands as a formidable defense to both the manufacturer and rider titles.

Next: The Italians