Twenty years ago, on this very day Valentino Rossi etched his name into MotoGP folklore at the first round of the 2004 MotoGP World Championship, hosted at Welkom’s Phakisa Freeway in South Africa. The Italian, fresh from winning his third world championship with Honda, made the shock switch to Yamaha in the offseason.
A New Era
Vale and Honda’s relationship had cooled substantially in the previous year, with the announcement of their breakup rocking the motorcycle racing world. Rossi signed off his career with Honda with three wins on the trot and the world championship.
Once Rossi announced his new signing, Honda took advantage of the contract clause that prevented him from riding his new mount until the following year. Vale had signed for a marque in the doldrums, that had not won a world title since Wayne Rainey in 1992. Now he faced more limited testing time before the opening round at Phakisa. Rossi fans were not confident. The question was, how long would it take for him to finish on the podium?
Leading From the Front
Rossi shocked the paddock by taking pole position ahead of the Hondas of archrival Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau. The two Italians pulled away from the rest of the field as the race progressed, beginning an epic battle of the two gladiators at the African colosseum. Biaggi and Rossi duked it out, pushing the limits lap after scintillating lap.
Eventually, Vale staged a brilliant pass on ‘The Roman Emperor’ at The Boot on the penultimate lap – the final move of a breathtaking showdown between the two. Rossi led home four Hondas, a Ducati, followed by another two Hondas. The second Yamaha home was Rossi’s childhood hero, Norifumi Abe, in ninth place.
Memory Made
The snapshot of the race that will always be remembered is that of ‘The Doctor’ stopping at the side of the track, falling to his knees and kissing his mount. It was the final time that Phakisa hosted an international motorcycle race. MotoGP has not returned to South Africa since.
The same day, Pierfrancesco Chili took his final World Superbike win at Misano, but that is another story…
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