The 2004 MotoGP World Championship is gathering pace, with the Rio Grand Prix this Sunday the first of three races in four weeks which will test the teams’ effort and efficiency to the absolute limit. Switched to the month of July after calendar complications and held for the first time on a Sunday, the Cinzano Rio Grand Prix has all the ingredients to become a key date in the season.

There has been very little time to recharge the batteries after the Dutch TT, where the Telefónica MoviStar Honda team picked up another two podiums thanks to second place finishes for Sete Gibernau and Daniel Pedrosa in the MotoGP and 250cc classes respectively. A total of 40 trucks loaded up all the team material at Assen and drove it to the Amsterdam and Luxemburg airports, where Alitalia and ASB jumbos, as well as a Varig DC-10, will take over the journey to Rio de Janeiro. On Wednesday the caravan will eventually arrive at Jacarepaguá and bring the Nelson Piquet Circuit to life.

Sete Gibernau is still the only rider in all three categories to have been on the podium at each of the first six rounds of the season, a record which maintains his position at the pinnacle of the championship standings, level on points with the current World Champion Valentino Rossi. The Spaniard returns to a circuit he likes, having finished second there last season, and hopes to break a run of three consecutive victories for Valentino Rossi. Set-up will be fundamental at a bumpy circuit which will require a solution to the chattering problem which has so far limited the potential of the RC211V. The Jacarepaguá track is often compared to a rollercoaster because of its bumpy and slippery nature, despite recent resurfacing.

Sete is on an incredible run of form and is keen not to become the bridesmaid of what is developing into the most exciting seasons of recent times. His only objective is to win the title and he is confident in the potential of a team which, despite its privateer status, is carrying the challenge to Rossi – a man who has built up a 26, 48 and 47 point advantage by the seventh round of the last three seasons respectively.

Dani Pedrosa’s form in the first six races of his 250cc career simply defies logic. The 125cc World Champion has been on the podium at five, only failing to score points after his crash at Jerez, and lies just one point behind Randy De Puniet at the top of the standings. Pedrosa, who set pole in the 125cc race at Rio last year, will continue to work quietly and confidently at a circuit where he has yet to complete a single lap on the quarter-litre machine.

THE RIDERS’ OPINION

SETE GIBERNAU (15)

“We’ve hardly had time to think about Rio – just enough to pack the bags and get ready for a long journey and another tough race. I left Assen feeling a little disappointed because, after leading for the whole race, I lost vital tenths in the clash with Rossi on the last lap and in MotoGP this year a tenth can be decisive. We are giving our best and I am sure that with the help of Honda and Michelin we still have room to improve our level. Rio will definitely be another very tough race, and the setting will once again be fundamental because the track is so bumpy. Valentino and I have demonstrated that we are on a different level and I’m confident of keeping the fight going. I like Rio, it’s a lovely country and the people always make us feel welcome. I usually go well at the track too.”

COLIN EDWARDS (45)

“We’re making a few small steps forward. I was pretty satisfied with the race in Holland but I can’t say the same about qualifying. To finish sixth after starting from the fifth row of the grid is a good result but I need to do a better job in qualifying and start further up the grid. If I can do that, I think a podium is within my reach. Now we’re heading out to a Grand Prix which is completely different to the rest. It’s a really relaxed atmosphere and you don’t have the same pressure from the fans, but they give out the same amount of points at the end of the race so you have to put in just the same effort”.

DANI PEDROSA (26)

“In Brazil the weather will be a bit unpredictable again – it could rain at any time but hopefully, like at Assen, we can prepare ourselves well for the race. Rio’s never been a circuit that’s suited me – there are a lot of bumps and it’s very slippery. It’s another new track for me with the 250 and I just have to improve every time I go out on the track, like I have done up to now.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA (73)

”I’m looking forward to getting to know Rio – it’s a completely different country to where we’ve been so far and they say there is a really nice atmosphere out there and that the people are really nice. I’ve got the same feeling as before Jerez, when people were telling me that you just have to get there and experience it. As far as the track is concerned, there’s not much I can say because I don’t know it at all. I just hope that the weather is on our side because in my first season I need every available session to get to know the circuit, get some references and work on the set-up of the bike”.

THE 2004 SEASON SO FAR FOR THE TELEFÓNICA MOVISTAR RIDERS

RIO GRAND PRIX IN DETAIL. TRACK DATA

7th of 16 World Championship rounds.

Circuit: Nelson Piquet Circuit

Grand Prix: Cinzano Rio Grand Prix

Inauguration: 1978

Latest modification: 1995

Length: 4.933 m.

Width: 18 m.

Right corners: 4

Left corners: 8

Main straight: 1.000 m.

LOCAL TIMETABLE (4 hours more in Europe)

Friday

09.00h.-09.45h. free practice 125 cc

10.00h.-11.00h. free practice MotoGP

11.15h.-12.15h. free practice 250 cc.

13.15h.-13.45h. official practice125 cc.

14.00h.-15.00h. official practice MotoGP

15.15h.-16.00h. official practice 250cc

Saturday

09.00h.-09.45h. free practice 125cc

10.00h.-11.00h. free practice MotoGP

11.15h.-12.15h. free practice 250cc

13.15h.-13.45h. official practice 125cc

14.00h.-15.00h. official practice MotoGP

15.15h.-16.00h. official practice250 cc.

Sunday

09.00h.-09.20h. warm up MotoGP.

09.30h.-09.50h. warm up 250cc

10.00h.-10.20h. warm up 125cc

11.15h. race MotoGP

12.30h. race 250cc

14.00h. race 125cc

LAST YEAR

MOTOGP

Pole position: Valentino Rossi (Honda) 1’49´´038

Podium: 1. Valentino Rossi (Honda), 2. Sete Gibernau (Honda), 3. Makoto Tamada (Honda)

Circuit record: 2003 Valentino Rossi (Honda) (1’50´´453)

250 CC.

Pole position: Toni Elías (Aprilia) 1’53´´457

Podium: 1. Manuel Poggiali (Aprilia), 2. Roberto Rolfo (Honda), 3. Randy De Puniet (Aprilia)

Circuit record: 2003 Manuel Poggiali (Aprilia) (1’54´´215)