Australia, penultimate round of the 2004 season.
Sebastián Porto will fight for the 250cc title until the end; Barros and Hayden, as well as Fonsi in the 250cc and Pablo Nieto in the 125cc, will try to get back on the podium.
After the race in Sepang, Malaysia, last Sunday, the penultimate Grand Prix of the 2004 season will be staged this weekend at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. From the suffocating heat of the Asian country, the World Championship will move in only three days to the low temperatures of Southern Australia, where the spring is beginning. This is one of the most expected rounds for most of the riders and teams given the track features and the atmosphere. On the technical, fast and very spectacular track of Phillip Island the races are always highly contended and level; not many riders have ever been able to escape there. The return to Phillip Island will surely bring back very good memories to Nicky Hayden, because it was there were he stepped for the first time on the MotoGP podium, after finishing third behind Rossi and Capirossi. His team-mate Alex Barros, who didnt finish the race last year riding on his Yamaha, has also good memories of his performances at the Australian event, where hes been able to take several fourth places. The best result of the Brazilian rider so far was in 2002, riding a four-stroke Honda RC211V, finishing second behind Rossi.
The third Repsol rider in the premier class, young Rubén Xaus, already knows the Australian track thanks to the Supersport and Superbike Championships. Xaus did also some testing with his MotoGP Ducati during the preseason, allowing him to arrive in Phillip Island with a base to start working on this weekend. After his podium finish in Qatar, Xaus will be closely looking for another chance to get another good result.
In the 250cc, the title chase has become quite complicated for Sebastián Porto after Dani Pedrosas victory in Malaysia and the second place of the Argentinean rider. The gap between Pedrosa and Sebastián Porto in the overall standings is of 48 points with 50 points still at stake, so Pedrosa will only need to be fourteenth next Sunday in Australia to get the two points needed to become World Champion. But Porto doesnt give up, and arrives in Australia convinced that it is still mathematically possible and hell be fighting again to get another victory. His team-mate Fonsi Nieto, eighth at the Malaysian Grand Prix, will try to get on the podium in Australia, a podium he hasnt stepped on since the last Spanish Grand Prix.
Last year Fonsi finished third in Phillip Island. In the minor class, the heavy crash suffered by Pablo Nieto fortunately did not have any serious physical consequences for the Repsol rider and despite the bruises all over his body, Nieto will be back on his Aprilia number 22 this weekend to go for another podium finish. And whilst Pablo is working against the clock to recover physically, his team-mate Sergio Gadea is bursting with happiness after getting the best result of his first season in the World Championship in Malaysia. Gadea scored four additional points and arrives in Australia eager to keep on moving forward.
