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There was much speculation during the second half of the 2003 season about Rossi's plans for the future.
Most suspected that he would succeed in his bid to claim a third consecutive title and wondered where the
amazingly talented Italian would go in the future. There were even rumors that he would attempt a career
in rally cars after he had competed in a Peugeot 206 WRC rally car at the 2002 Rally of Great Britain.
His contract with Honda was up at the end of the year and there were rumors that Rossi
had become somewhat disillusioned with his ride at Honda.
His tenure at Honda had effectively run its course; he had provided Honda with a 500cc World Championship as well as consecutive MotoGP World Championships, he had helped perfect
the RC211V into a formidable, almost unstoppable racing machine and considering Honda's reluctance to pay top
dollar to secure his services in 2004, seemed to have overstayed his welcome. To Honda's credit, they offered
him a significant and lucrative contract but ultimately it wasn't enough to keep Rossi where he felt he no longer
belonged. Partnered with increased skepticism that the reason for his success was the dominance of the RC211V rather than Rossi's talent,
it was inevitable that Honda and Rossi would part.
Mid-season rumors pointed towards a possible move to Ducati , which sent the Italian press into a frenzy; the concept of the great
Italian on the great Italian bike seemed too good to be true. Ducati did indeed try to seduce Rossi into
riding their MotoGP bike, the Desmosedici, but for numerous reasons Rossi passed the offer up. Critics say that
compared to the other manufacturers, Ducati had a significant way to go before being competitive even with Rossi
at the helm. This proved to be the truth with Ducati's lacklustre performance in the 2003 season, which had
actually been worse than their inaugural year in MotoGP in 2002. Ultimately, Rossi signed a two-year contract
with rivals Yamaha reportedly worth in excess of USD$12 million; a price no other manufacturer, even Honda, was willing to pay.
Vale's move to Yamaha would be a baptism of fire. His fiercest critics claimed that on an inferior machine
(the YZF-M1), Rossi would not be able to recreate his World Championship wins of the previous years,
especially with increased development of the RC211V and the likes of Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau on Hondas.
The RC211V was a superior machine in almost every aspect although it was guaranteed that the
gap would shrink with the defection of Rossi and Jeremy Burgess.
The 2004 season would give Rossi the ability to show everyone,
especially his critics what he was made of and provide him with an opportunity to prove that it was his talent rather than his bike that won him his championships.
With the traditional first race of the season at Suzuka off the list due to safety considerations, the 2004 season started at Welkom in South Africa Rossi shone
through to claim first blood in his new team colors and somewhat silenced some of his critics who thought the Yamaha would still play second fiddle to the Honda.
Rossi would go on to claim 8 more GP wins during the season, battling
Sete Gibernau ferociously until Rossi eventually closed the door on
Sete's hopes in the penultimate race of the season at Phillip Island .
Gibernau and Rossi had become bickering enemies during
the course of the season; whereas in previous seasons they had been competitive but friendly rivals, various
disputes arose during 2004 which led to their falling apart. Rossi would continue to rub salt into the wound
for both Gibernau and Honda by winning the ultimate race of the season (and the final race
Rossi would ride for Honda) at Valencia.
It was a painful blow to both Gibernau and Honda; Gibernau, so close to a World Championship, and Honda,
starting to become aware of what they had let go. Valentino Rossi ended up with 304 points to Gibernau's 257, with Max Biaggi 3rd with 217 points.
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