Moody Blues: 2005 starts now!

With the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix now just days away, renowned Eurosport MotoGP commentator Toby Moody has arrived in Jerez - from where he's sent Crash.net this exclusive preview for the upcoming 17-round battle for Valentino Rossi's world crown...

It's finally here - the 2005 MotoGP season is underway this weekend at Jerez and I can't wait to see those bikes hound down on the first corner come Sunday afternoon.

The question is, who is going to come out of the last corner in first position?! Can Rossi can keep his crown or is it Gibernau's chance for Championship glory? Or are we all wrong and is it going to be someone else? If I had a dollar for every person who has asked me in recent weeks 'can Rossi win the title again', then I'd have one hell of a garage full of nice bikes and cars by now...

Rossi is a genius on a motorcycle. We all know that, but you have to pinch yourself now and again and remember to log into one's memory banks, that what we are seeing in front of our very eyes is history being made that we'll all tell our kids about one day.

The proof is how we reminisce about Ago, Sheene V Roberts, and Schwantz V Rainey. Hopefully this is going to be the Rossi V Gibernau right down to the wire. Just recalibrate the brain for a second. Rossi has been riding in Grand Prix for nine full seasons now, and he has six Championships...

This is his tenth season on the world circuit and he's looking to just go out there and win more races. Not in a Mick Doohan metronomic kinda way, but in a 'do-the-best-I-can-and-the-championship-will-look-after-itself' kinda way, just as he always has.

Arch rival Sete Gibernau has been quick in pre-season. He was quick at Phillip Island over a race distance, and he won the Official MotoGP Test at Barcelona three weeks ago during a 40 minute 'qualifying session' when he won a BMW.

Rossi made a mistake that day and was annoyed with himself not to have the upper hand for the weeks before this weekend's Jerez opener, but as he got back to the garage in Barcelona, he had cooled enough to remember that points are only given out on Sunday afternoons.

I've got a lot of time for Gibernau as I speak as I find. He is a gentlemen, is well educated and has overcome the element of silver spoon in his mouth by virtue of being a 'Bultaco'. However, pointing to the sky throughout the entire cooling down lap is an eye roller to all but his most fervent of fans. Sad as times were, they move on.

It is his tenth season in Grand Prix racing and has tasted the back end of the results with other teams, and of course properly found the winning touch two years ago. For me, him winning in Germany 2003 is still one of the most dramatic and enjoyable finishes I've ever commentated on.

But can Gibbers keep a cool head. Doohan had the quote "Spaniards only go quick in Spain". Which at the time was hard but fair. Now Gibernau knows he can win over a season, but do you have to feel sorry for him that he is up against the might of Rossi... Discuss that one down the pub.

We shall see if the Hondas have got their winning touch (should that be dominance?) back after a winter away licking their sore Yamaha inflicted wounds. Honda still have the carpet bombing mentality in supplying seven bikes - not that all of them are going to win - against the reality of two works Yamahas.

Yes, Yes I know that Repsol Honda have now got Max Biaggi, but he needs to have a start to the season similar to 1998 when he really pushed hard against Doohan. Biaggi was quick in Barcelona testing, but not so good at Jerez testing. He is a complex character, but one who is determined to get a result by hook or by crook.

The confidence and swagger he had when walking through a 250 paddock en route to four titles may have gone, but he will win races this year. That's a no brainer, although he hopes he can hit the ground running with Erv Kanemoto alongside him, the intense bike tuner who took him to 250 success in 97, and so close to the 500 title in 98.

Nicky Hayden is in his third year at Repsol Honda and has a new crew chief, as well as ants-in-his-pants to win a race. Management changes on the Japanese side have seen Mr Nakajima disappear, and new Managers appearing.

Mick Doohan, as you know, has left his 'consultant role', but I predicted that back in October when word was Biaggi was getting the Repsol ride. I have enjoyed reading their small tussle of words now Mick has free speech towards/against Honda...

The works Honda team are set in their ways with many things, and making technology work is certainly one of them. What they produce and send off around test tracks in Japan would blow our minds if we even knew about it, and with weight changes for 3, 4 and 5 cylinder bikes in 2007, rumours continue to abound about them having a 3 cylinder up and running.

Under the future rules, a triple would have a 7.5kg advantage over a 4 cylinder and a 15kg advantage over a 5 cylinder bike at the start of 2007. As an aside, rumours have surfaced that the 900cc formula for the start of 2007 may in fact be changed to 800cc. I shall dig about on that one...

What of the Ducatis? Catalunya 2003 seems a long time ago when they won, but a podium for Bayliss at the last GP of 2004 was a parting shot in more ways than one. Bridgestones are now on the Ducati as they have opted to go for race wins rather than the Championship. (see Tamada last year...) Claudio Domenicalli has been moved in charge of Ducati rather than Ducati Corse, so things are still shaking out.

One of the advantages of having Bridgestone is that they are chucking some extra money in to pay for a test team to pound around Mugello until the riders get dizzy. Ducati have not got their own cash to pay for that, making it another reason to take the Japanese rubber rather than the French rubber.

Stories leaking out of some garages point towards Michelin not bringing a massive amount of tyres to some 2004 races leaving riders on tyres they are not happy with/prepared for. (See Gibernau in Motegi last year).

Ducati have played around with the V4 again and it is hideously loud - even with my especially made ear plugs in! It has more power too, so Capirossi and Checa are not going to complain. Capirossi stays and will be quick, but has he enough strength to actually muscle the thing around when really pushing? He fell off in Barcelona before the 'hot 40 minutes of qualifying' three weeks ago, returning to the garage with hardly a stitch remaining in his leathers, and a John Wayne walk to boot.

Checa likes the feel of the Ducati, but injuries already this year have put paid to the last Jerez Test. Valuable bum on seat time lost forever... The guy seems to be cursed as at the team Launch in January in the Italian Dolomites he had his hand run over whilst ice karting alongside Capirossi, Schumacher, and Barrichello. I don't have to tell you that ice karts have metallic studded tyres and his hand continued to be a hindrance at the Sepang test the week after.

I dearly want to see Ducati back up the sharp end as they really do have character that only Italians have for Grand Prix racing. A win at Mugello would be as good as four wins over the rest of the season...

Barros has returned to his favourite Honda Pons garage to remember those magic wins he had at the back of 2002 with the West Honda V5. It is sad for Alex though that there is no Antonio Cobas engineering from the back of the garage after he passed away last year.

Bayliss is on a V5 and looking to show people he has a MotoGP win in him. It is good he continues in the paddock as he tells it how it is. No Bull. He has been struggling so far, but if it is wet - he'll be a good bet. It seems Camel are chucking in pots of cash which doesn't half help getting things done. You are only as quick as the thickness of your cheque book... most of the time that is.

Edwards has jumped ship from Honda WSBK to Aprilia MotoGP to Honda to Yamaha in four seasons. He looks as happy as when he was getting together his WSBK 2002 run to Imola - and wouldn't it be good to see that again!

He was never going to do anything on the Aprilia, and probably didn't get the best V5 last year, but he does not fall off, and is a massive motivation builder to a team However, a that Honda V5 took him to two podiums last season: Can he do that on a Yamaha in 2005?

Tamada has the same set up less for he's now on Michelins and it's a different paint job. He said at the back of last year that he wanted Michelins for better consistency, even thought the advantage of Bridgestones had given him two wins... I think I am being polite in saying he is a 'brave rider' who has that mad look in his eye more often than not.

Former President of Honda Europe, Mr Fukui is involved in the Konica/JIR (Japanese Italian Racing) Team so that may smooth a path to Japan getting a Japanese Champion in the last remaining class they haven't cracked. He is extraordinarily quick when he's in the mood, just as we saw at Mugello, Rio and Motegi. Will win two or three.

Melandri is alongside Gibernau at Telefonica Honda. He is happy to be in an Italian team with a V5 underneath him. Beset by injuries towards the end of 2004, those problems are happily behind him now.

On his day he is very quick indeed, and with same people around him who took Kato to his 250 title, things look good. Fabrizio Checcinni as chief engineer is looking to return to his winning ways with Marco getting faster and faster throughout winter testing.

Suzuki continues to have John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jnr atop of Bridgestones. BSB winning manager Paul Denning now runs the team from his Crescent Suzuki base near Bournemouth.

Denning has got to turn the results around, which it looks like he can do. Roberts and Hopkins have gone well pre-season, but the engine has to have more power and reliability. How come Suzuki have such stunning WSBK and BSB liveries, and such a terrible MotoGP colour scheme?

Team Roberts has got the KTM engine in the exquisite chassis, and managed to get some Michelin tyres. From two bikes to two has meant a loss of some staff back at Banbury, but the concentration of effort into one bike is good. The Austrian engineers are looking forward to the challenge, but as always, getting the last three-seconds out of the thing is going to be the contest.

Xaus and Elias will get what they're given at Tech 3 Fortuna Yamaha. You never know, but little MotoGP rookie Elias may well get the measure of Xaus by the end of the season: he really is that quick and that aggressive.

Kawasaki have an unchanged line up on the front line, but Firenzo Fanali is there as an engineer, together with Mr Yoda from Yamaha who gave the M1 project some direction. Nakano and Hoffman still ride the green machine that now has a 'big-bang' engine firing order. Shame as it did sound good screaming its head off down a long straight.

Nakano may be under employed with the bike in its current state, but of all the people on the grid who gives it 110% every time he goes out on a bike, its him. Bridgestones are still the rubber, but alas no test team to do the donkey work.

Hoffman will be upset at the last minute loss of German terrestrial TV broadcaster RTL from the paddock. They pulled the plug of the forthcoming season just four weeks before it started.

WCM soldier on after giving their blue bike a polish and an engine rebuild over the winter. The new V6 engine from Blata was rumoured to appear in Jerez, then Le Mans, but now looks like being much later. Kenny Roberts may have some wise words of encouragement for the Blata Engine builders about engine development...

MotoGP is really going places now we kick into the fourth year of the four-stroke era without the stagnant, old fashioned 500cc two-stroke technology that now has its place at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

125s and 250s are still ring-a-ding-dingers, and that is the only way that Dorna are going to economically fill the other two grids of a weekend. I have not heard one person in the paddock sad and melancholic about the passing of the 500s. They were going nowhere.

However, the cost of the 'mini' F1 engines has taken four bikes off a 2004 24 bike grid. That's a worrying 18% missing as we start 2005, but the reasons for Aprilia not appearing in reality had nothing to do with the cost of a MotoGP team. The state of the whole company was unstable, and as always racing goes first.

Team Roberts go from two to one machine, as does Luis D'Antin's hand-me-down Ducati team. Roberts has downsized because he is realistic. D'Antin, because money has always been a problem.

17 races starts here this weekend, and I look forward to every minute of them commentating on the Television with Julian Ryder and Randy Mamola alongside me. I shall continue to write the ins and outs here on Crash.net throughout the season...

Toby Moody