From a press release:

COLIN EDWARDS JOINS TEAM TELEFÓNICA MOVISTAR HONDA

Sunday, 2 November 2003

Team Telefónica MoviStar Honda and Colin Edwards have reached an agreement for the American rider to join the Team Gresini Racing squad next season. The arrival of Edwards strengthens the team’s potential for 2004, making it one of the top prospects in MotoGP.

The Texan, born in 1974 and winner of two World Superbike titles in 2000 and 2002, returns to Honda – the factory with which he won both his major honours – after a rookie season in the World Championship. Team Telefónica MoviStar is proud to have two riders of the standing of Sete Gibernau and Colin Edwards.

Telefónica MoviStar Honda Team Manager Fausto Gresini expressed his satisfaction at the signing: “I can say that I am at the head of a winning team – two riders like Sete and Colin are reason to have high hopes and expectations of top results. Looking forward to next season I think we have the potential to go for victories. I am a great admirer of Edwards – he is a rider who combines talent with determination.”

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Grand Prix of Valencia
Valencia, Spain
Sunday Morning MotoGP Practice Times:

1. Valentino ROSSI, Honda, 1:33.947
2. Nicky HAYDEN, Honda, 1:33.985
3. Max BIAGGI, Honda, 1:34.083
4. Sete GIBERNAU, Honda, 1:34.141
5. Carlos CHECA, Yamaha, 1:34.293
6. Alex BARROS, Yamaha, 1:34.712
7. Kenny ROBERTS, Suzuki, 1:34.740
8. Loris CAPIROSSI, Ducati, 1:34.744
9. Colin EDWARDS, Aprilia, 1:35.003
10. Troy BAYLISS, Ducati, 1:35.055
11. Makoto TAMADA, Honda, 1:35.082
12. Tohru UKAWA, Honda, 1:35.091
13. Jeremy McWILLIAMS, Proton, 1:35.118
14. Norick ABE, Yamaha, 1:35.240
15. John HOPKINS, Suzuki, 1:35.330
16. Shinya NAKANO, Yamaha, 1:35.428
17. Ryuichi KIYONARI, Honda, 1:35.560
18. Olivier JACQUE, Yamaha, 1:35.836
19. Garry McCOY, Kawasaki, 1:35.934
20. Noriyuki HAGA, Aprilia, 1:35.935
21. Nobuatsu AOKI, Proton, 1:36.108
22. Andrew PITT, Kawasaki, 1:36.207
23. David DE GEA, Harris WCM, 1:37.654

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Grand Prix of Valenica
Valencia, Spain
Sunday Morning 125cc GP Practice Times:

1. Mirko GIANSANTI, Aprilia, 1:40.266
2. Hector BARBERA, Aprilia, 1:40.408
3. Casey STONER, Aprilia, 1:40.425
4. Stefano PERUGINI, Aprilia, 1:40.515
5. Jorge LORENZO, Derbi, 1:40.778
6. Marco SIMONCELLI, Aprilia, 1:40.806
7. Gabor TALMACSI, Aprilia, 1:40.845
8. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Honda, 1:40.851
9. Thomas LUTHI, Honda, 1:41.150
10. Steve JENKNER, Aprilia, 1:41.181
11. Roberto LOCATELLI, KTM, 1:41.272
12. Alex DE ANGELIS, Aprilia, 1:41.348
13. Lucio CECCHINELLO, Aprilia, 1:41.381
14. Mika KALLIO, KTM, 1:41.436
15. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Aprilia, 1:41.569
16. Pablo NIETO, Aprilia, 1:41.615
17. Masao AZUMA, Honda, 1:41.819
18. Simone CORSI, Honda, 1:41.829
19. Youichi UI, Gilera, 1:41.863
20. Andrea BALLERINI, Honda, 1:41.943
21. Arnaud VINCENT, Aprilia, 1:42.028

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Grand Prix of Valencia
Valencia, Spain
250cc Grand Prix Results

1. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 27 laps, 44:01.924
2. Toni ELIAS, Aprilia, -0.072 second
3. Manuel POGGIALI, Aprilia, -12.810 seconds
4. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, -22.496 seconds
5. Fonsi NIETO, Aprilia, -30.731 seconds
6. Sebastian PORTO, Honda, -32.381 seconds
7. Roberto ROLFO, Honda, -35.547 seconds
8. Franco BATTAINI, Aprilia, -36.987 seconds
9. Eric BATAILLE, Honda, -38.672 seconds
10. Alex DEBON, Honda, -41.748 seconds
11. Naoki MATSUDO, Yamaha, -55.156 seconds
12. Dirk HEIDOLF, Aprilia, -63.117 seconds
13. Chaz DAVIES, Aprilia, -68.018 seconds
14. Jakub SMRZ, Honda, -78.041 seconds
15. Radomil ROUS, Aprilia, -84.071 seconds
16. Alvaro MOLINA, Aprilia, -89.994 seconds
17. Johan STIGEFELT, Aprilia, -92.471 seconds
18. Henk vd LAGEMAAT, Honda, -1 lap
19. Lukas PESEK, Yamaha, -1 lap
20. Patrick LAKERVELD, Aprilia, -2 laps
21. Erwan NIGON, Aprilia, -12 laps, DNF, mechanical
22. Anthony WEST, Aprilia, -13 laps, DNF, mechanical
23. Alex BALDOLINI, Aprilia, -14 laps, DNF, mechanical
24. Hugo MARCHAND, Aprilia, -16 laps, DNF, mechanical
25. Christian GEMMEL, Honda, -19 laps, DNF, mechanical
26. Jaroslav HULES, Honda, -25 laps, DNF, crash
27. Hector FAUBEL, Aprilia, -26 laps, DNF, mechanical
28. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, -26 laps, DNF, mechanical


Final 250cc Grand Prix World Championship Point Standings:

1. POGGIALI, Manuel, 249 points
2. ROLFO, Roberto, 235 points
3. ELIAS, Toni, 226 points
4. DE PUNIET, Randy, 208 points
5. NIETO, Fonsi, 194 points
6. BATTAINI, Franco, 148 points
7. WEST, Anthony, 145 points
8. PORTO, Sebastian, 127 points
9. MATSUDO, Naoki, 119 points
10. GUINTOLI, Sylvain, 101 points
11. DEBON, Alex, 81 points
12. OLIVE, Joan, 38 points
13. FAUBEL, Hector, 34 points
14. DAVIES, Chaz, 33 points
15. AOYAMA, Hiroshi, 31 points


More, from a press release issued by MS Aprilia:

MANUEL POGGIALI GOT THE 250 WORLD TITLE. APRILIA ACHIEVED THE 22nd TITLE!



Thanks to the third position in the Comunitat Valenciana GP Manuel Poggiali won the 250 world title after the victory of Marco Melandry last year. This is another great triumph for Aprilia especially with Manuel who won the title on his debut on 250. Only Tetsuya Harada was able to get the same perfomance at his first season with 250. But the japanese rider already rode a 250 bike whilst Manuel had his debut in Suzuka this year. Manuel has been the protagonist of this season since the beginning as he leaded th eowrld standing from the first race.



Manuel Poggiali: “The beginning of this week end starter in the worst way cause after 5 years I got the flue here in Valencia. Luckily the staff of Clinica Mobile took care of my health so I was able to ride in good conditions. But I had another trouble cause this morining I crashed in the warm up session hiting another rider suffering an abrasion in my left hip. Anway my technicians did a perfect work and the bike was pretty good. This season was very incredible as I got a short advantage since the first race and I was very constant as well. Moreover I never felt pressure as all the persons who worked with me always tried to help me in order to get more experience. After three or four races I understood that my challenge for the title could be very easy . I do not know if this title is more exciting than the other one (125) because when you ride a motorbike this is the only dream in your mind. It doesn’t matter which class. Anyway the 125 races were more difficult than 250. Now I feel very tired because of the flue so I think I will celebrate this success in San Marino with my family and my friends. I want to thank the whole team, all the supporters, Aprilia but I want to dedicate this victory to my daddy who can not be here with me”.

Ivano Beggio (Aprilia President): “It’s simply great.. this is the 22nd title! This champiosnhip was very tough but excting in the mean time. I am very happy for Manuel. Honestly I did not expect this great result on his debut on the 250 bike. He is a great champion and he represents the future of this sport: he is going to ride for us for two years and we will do the best to let him stay for a long time”.

Rossano Brazzi (Poggiali Technical Responsible): “I want to dedicate this title to my guys cause we worked together from many years. They are very professional and patient. This title is all for them”.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Brian Stokes, Tray Batey, Jesse Janisch, Ben Attard and John Dugan won Sunday at the 18th annual Suzuki Cup Finals, held in conjunction with the WERA Grand National Finals, at Road Atlanta.

Stokes broke free of the pack halfway through the 10-lap GSX-R600 to win by 1.6 seconds on his Pirelli-shod Freewebtown.com/Team Embry GSX-R600. A pack of riders contested second place, including Vesrah Suzuki’s Mark Junge, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Matt Furtek and Chris Siglin, Argo Cycles’ Scott Greenwood and XT Racing’s David Weber.

After leading at one point of the race, Weber crashed out on lap five. Siglin looked strong, but a mistake shuffled him backward. Junge came through to second place and held the spot with defensive riding on the final lap. Furtek finished third but was disqualified for being 0.2 horsepower over the horsepower limit during post-race inspections. Greenwood was promoted to third, and Siglin was elevated to fourth. Logan Young, 20, finished fifth.

The three-rider TL/SV1000 final was combined with the SV650 Cup race, and Batey took the big-bike victory on a Pirelli-equipped Vesrah Suzuki SV1000. Dunlop’s Scott Brown finished second, 23 seconds behind Batey, and Russell Masecar was third.

Bradley Champion, the defending SV650 Cup Champion, led from the first lap and pulled away to win the SV650 final by 13 seconds, but Champion was disqualified for being over horsepower on the dyno in post-race checks. 4&6 Racing’s Janisch, 16, started from the last row of the grid, joined the pack chasing Champion by the third lap and came through to take second – and what would become the win – in the final corners. Jeff Tigert finished second on a Twin Works Factory machine and Cooper Performance’s Jeff Walker was a very close third.

The GSX-R750 Cup final was red-flagged twice due to separate incidents involving Dirk Sanchez and Michael Niksa. When the race was finally started, Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki’s Greg Moore took the lead for the third straight time, shortly before he crashed into the turn four Airfence. Moore was unhurt and the race was allowed to continue.

Reuben Frankenfield, Jake Holden, Dugan, Stokes and Attard fought for the GSX-R750 Cup Final race lead. Attard, a 23-year-old from Australia, took control of the lead on lap seven of ten and was able to hold on for the win on his Dunlop-tired Corona Ebsco Suzuki. Holden snuck by his EDR Racing teammate Dugan for second, while Stokes finished fourth. Batey came from the back of the grid to finish fifth.

No one was able to match the pace of GSX-R1000 Cup heat race winner John Haner all weekend, but the Texan crashed his Team Valvoline EMGO Suzuki in Sunday morning practice, breaking and dislocating bones in his right hand and wrist. Dugan took full advantage of the opportunity and ran away to win the GSX-R1000 final by eight seconds. TigerTeam Racing’s Jeff Tigert pulled away from Junge and Jacobi to score second. Jacobi passed Junge late in the race to take third. Junge hung on for fourth, and Byron Barbour also passed Fritz Kling late to finish fifth.

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Grand Prix of Valencia
Valencia, Spain
Sunday Morning 250cc GP Practice Times:

1. Randy DE PUNIET, Aprilia, 1:37.726
2. Sylvain GUINTOLI, Aprilia, 1:37.751
3. Fonsi NIETO, Aprilia, 1:38.133
4. Alex DEBON, Honda, 1:38.289
5. Toni ELIAS, Aprilia, 1:38.347
6. Franco BATTAINI, Aprilia, 1:38.429
7. Naoki MATSUDO, Yamaha, 1:38.474
8. Sebastian PORTO, Honda, 1:38.523
9. Anthony WEST, Aprilia, 1:38.744
10. Eric BATAILLE, Honda, 1:39.026
11. Erwan NIGON, Aprilia, 1:39.363
12. Chaz DAVIES, Aprilia, 1:39.752
13. Joan OLIVE, Aprilia, 1:39.885
14. Jaroslav HULES, Honda, 1:39.907
15. Christian GEMMEL, Honda, 1:40.016
16. Jakub SMRZ, Honda, 1:40.043
17. Dirk HEIDOLF, Aprilia, 1:40.256
18. Johan STIGEFELT, Aprilia, 1:40.387
19. Radomil ROUS, Aprilia, 1:40.466
20. Roberto ROLFO, Honda, 1:40.589
21. Hugo MARCHAND, Aprilia, 1:40.678

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Luis d’Antin has announced that his team has reached an agreement with both Ducati and 2003 World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson to contest the 2004 MotoGP World Championship.

“It is a very exciting challenge for me,” Hodgson was quoted as saying by Dorna Sports. “I watched the free practice this morning from trackside and these bikes are very intimidating. They are very, very fast and unbelievably loud, but I spoke to Loris after the session and he says it is less scary to ride one than it is to watch! It will be difficult but not impossible to win races – that is why I am here. My only intention is to work very, very hard to get the maximum out of the bike and of myself.”

D’Antin Ducati will field two riders but has not announced the second rider.

The announcement of the d’Antin Ducati deal included word that Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss would return to the Marlboro Ducati factory team in 2004.

From a press release issued by Honda:

ROSSI AND HONDA PART WITH A SMILE AND EMBRACE

In a packed pressroom at Valencia after the final race of the 2003 season it was officially announced that World Champion, Valentino Rossi and Honda were not renewing any contract for the 2004 season.

Rossi appeared alongside the Repsol Honda Team’s Sporting Manager, Carlo Fiorani and Team Manager Shoji Tachikawa. He explained to the world’s press that he has loved his time at Honda but after winning three consecutive World Championships feels that the time is right to move onto a new challenge.

Fiorani thanked Rossi on behalf of all of Honda and finished up presenting the 24-year-old Italian with a painting signed by all his friends and colleagues at the Repsol Honda Team.

Carlo Fiorani, Repsol Honda Team Sporting Manager

“Everyone in this room knows; indeed anyone with even the slightest interest in motorcycle racing around the world will know that we at Honda have been in contract negotiations with Valentino Rossi’s management for much of this season.

We at Honda have done everything in our power to secure Valentino’s services for next year. In the end we understand that it is not about money, sponsor obligations or any of the standard issues that are negotiated over in more general contract discussions. The area we have had difficulty in, is one of providing Valentino with a new challenge and it is an area we at Honda totally understand. This is totally a Valentino choice.

Throughout his career Valentino has moved onto a new challenge every season and in the end, it is this that Valentino seeks. In many ways his driving force is reflected in the spirit of this great company. Soichiro Honda who founded the business over 50 years ago understood and rejoiced in this spirit.

So, on the evening of the final Grand Prix of 2003, and Valentino’s 64th with Honda, we announce officially today that Honda and Valentino Rossi will not be renewing any contract for the 2004 season.

We are obviously very sad on the one hand to see Valentino go but feel that we as a manufacturer and Valentino as a rider part company as friends with the best memories of our time together. We now have to look forward to next season when we will gather a team of riders capable of retaining the World Championship for Honda.

I’d like to publicly thank Valentino for all the success and fun we’ve had over the last four years. The Honda / Rossi partnership has been an incredible one. Together we have won three World Championships, three Manufacturers Titles and 33 races in four very special years.

We have had this situation before when riders either move teams or retire. Mike Hailwood, Freddie Spencer, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, Mick Doohan and now Valentino Rossi.

On behalf of all at Honda, the racing community and fans world-wide I thank you for your efforts Valentino and I wish you well in the future and we look forward to the challenge of 2004 and beyond!”


Valentino Rossi
“I have to say thank you very much to Honda. It is true. Next year we don’t race together. For sure it has been a fantastic period for me to work together for four years. It’s been unforgettable. We’ve won 50% of the races when we have been together. The story is only four years but for me it seems much longer.

Together we start in 2000 with a new challenge with the 500. There were many problems to start with. Straightaway we were working with HRC and it as amazing. To work with HRC for a rider is like a dream. If you are able to give the right information to the engineers they are able to change.

At the end of the first year we arrive in second position in the championship and take more podiums than anyone else.

The next year I have a new NSR – after six or seven years of the old NSR. We win 11 races and the championship. It was a great championship as it was the last of the 500’s. The 500cc was the story of the sport. To win the last 500cc race was like a dream. Maybe one of the best races of my career.

After, we sign a new contract and we start another time from zero with the new 4 –stroke. I first ride at Suzuka in 2001 in August. It was already a good bike. But even at the beginning I was wondering if it was as good as the 500’s as it was not as fast. We work hard and the bike was ready for the first GP and we win. At the end of last season the Yamaha was at the same level and we make a good step over the winter in testing and arrive this season in good shape.

This year was great for me. We make many emotional races. We had a good second part of the championship. At a point after Sepang the idea arrived about making a change because we win in the dry, we win in the wet, we win at circuits I like and like today, we win at circuits I have not had such good luck at in the past. We finish our work with the bike.

So, we don’t race together next year. I try a new challenge. Maybe to make this choice at this point is a little mad. We see next year if it is possible or not. For sure all the fans will be happy, as it will make a great show! Unforgettable our time together. The HRC engineers, and all my friends at Honda.
Thank you all.”

From a press release issued by Fortuna Yamaha:

FORTUNA YAMAHA TEAM STATEMENT

The following is a statement issued on behalf of Fortuna Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio.

“We welcome this evening’s news that the Honda – Valentino Rossi relationship has drawn to a close. As many people know, when it became clear that there was a possibility that Valentino would not renew his agreement with Honda we made contact with his management team. I can confirm that our discussions with Valentino’s management are proceeding well. With the confirmation that he shall not renew with Honda we shall proceed with our negotiations and hope to conclude an agreement within the immediate future.

“This is obviously a very exciting prospect for us. However, until we have one hundred percent finalised an agreement with Valentino we shall not be able to comment further on the situation and on our Team’s final line-up for 2004.

“We fully appreciate that there is enormous media interest in Valentino’s future and so we shall endeavour to be as open as possible. However, at the present time I can say no more than this. Our joint aim is to make a full announcement as soon as all the details have been finalised.”