Predicting the outcome of the 2003 MotoGP series is, let’s face it, rather pointless. With so many manufacturers involved, with so many bikes at various stages of development, and so many great riders (I can’t remember how many former World champions are participating), there will undoubtedly be a lot of luck involved in the final standings.
We have written so many articles about this upcoming GP season, and discussed so many teams, that we want to get right to the point here. The first race, at Suzuka this Sunday, will mark the beginning of perhaps the greatest roadracing series ever.
We have to pick Honda’s Valentino Rossi to win yet another MotoGP championship in 2003. Rossi is fast, consistent, and he has superb, proven machinery beneath him. He will be pushed harder than he has been in a while, and a bit of bad luck here or there could make all the difference.
The man we are picking to finish second in MotoGP this year is Alex Barros on his Yamaha. In addition to beating Rossi more than once last year on equal equipment, Barros has proven that he will be fast on the Yamaha this year by out-pacing the factory top dog, Carlos Checa. Indeed, when Yamaha kept Checa and dropped Biaggi last year, it was because Yamaha expected Checa to step up and be a consistent podium finisher in 2003, if not a contender for the championship. Barros is simply faster than Checa on the Yamaha, despite far less time on the machine, and Barros will be in the hunt for victory at virtually every track barring misfortune. The Yamaha is now a thoroughly tested and developed machine, and the Barros/Yamaha combination should give Rossi plenty of competition.
When you step away from Honda and Yamaha in MotoGP, you enter the realm of machinery that is less proven and on the steeper slope of the development curve. Ducati certainly is in this category, but we are picking Ducati’s Loris Capirossi to finish third this year, nonetheless. You have a sense from observing the off-season testing that the Ducati is already extremely well sorted, and reliable. It is also blazingly fast, and it is being ridden well by Capirossi. Ducati could have some serious teething problems, but the signs do not point in that direction at this time. Indeed, Ducati looks to be extremely competitive from the start, and its bike will only get better.
Max Biaggi will be on a Honda this year, and without any excuses (although you will hear him say, undoubtedly, that Valentino Rossi has better equipment). Indeed, Biaggi could win the championship without surprising us too much. Biaggi’s talent rivals that of Rossi, and the four-strokes favor his riding style. Nevertheless, Biaggi has had problems with consistency (some of it related to bike set-up), and he can blow away the field in one race and crash out of the next. We will have to wait and see.
If Colin Edwards were on machinery more thoroughly proven than his Aprilia, we would pick him to finish higher than fifth. His battle with Troy Bayliss last year in WSB was more than remarkable. He truly has the heart of a champion, and he will surprise people this year. The big question mark with Edwards is his Aprilia Cube. We have no doubt that the bike can become a winner, but it is also on the steep slope of the development curve, and, perhaps, not ready to propel Edwards to the front. Again, only time will tell.
Whatever the outcome, this will be an extraordinarily exciting series to watch.
