MADRID, 30 April 2004 — After his sensational debut win for his new Yamaha team Valentino Rossi’s rivals must be wondering what they can do to stop the Italian from pocketing yet another victory at the Spanish MotoGP in Jerez on Sunday.
The 25-year-old took the season Opening Africa’s Grand Prix to become the first rider in the history of the sport to win consecutive races on different machines.
His stunning performance as he outstripped his Honda rivals and long-time sparring partner Max Biaggi to claim victory in South Africa surprised Rossi but typically he is in no mood to rest on his laurels. His rivals will get little comfort from a glance at the record books as Rossi has won for the last three years at Jerez and says he feels at home on the compact 4.423-km track.
Although it was Biaggi who ran Rossi closest in South Africa, this time round it is likely to be last season’s championship runner-up Sete Gibernau who leads the challenge.
The Spaniard, who rides for Rossi’s old Honda team, will also be anxious to make up for his disappointment in last year’s race when he crashed out while in second place on the seventh lap. He will have the added advantage of enjoying the vociferous support of the vast majority of the 125,000 fans who are expected to fill the circuit for Sunday’s race.
Rossi may also come under pressure from Ducati duo Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss, who took the top two spots on the grid at Jerez last season, and are now riding updated Desmosedici GP4 machines.
Rossi’s Yamaha teammate Carlos Checa will be anxious to make improvements too. The Spaniard finished a lowly 10th at Welkom, some 40 seconds down on the Italian and will have little excuse for another poor performance in front of his home fans.
