Valentino Rossi made history today at Philip Island, Australia, becoming only the second man ever to win back to back world titles on two different makes of bike. But better than that, he beat the record of the most wins on a Yamaha in one season, previously held by Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson and he's the only man ever to win back to back races on different makes of bike. The only reason that he didn't become the youngest every MotoGP champion is that he's already done that. In fact, Valentino Rossi is actually the only ever MotoGP champion, having taken every title since the series started...

But the weekend didn't look as though it was all going to go the Italian's way. Sete Gibernau, the only man in with a realistic chance of lifting the title, took pole position in style, relegating Rossi to second place. Loris Capirossi took a highly respectable third, the only Ducati rider to get on the front row this year and pushing Colin Edwards back to head up the second row, immediately behind his team-mate. Tamada pushed Barros back into sixth with Biaggi, riding slightly the worse for wear after managing to injure his right foot dropping a box on it in the pits, in seventh. Alex Hoffman continued the impressive progress of the Kawasaki with a best ever eighth while Troy Bayliss ended up being pushed down the grid to a disappointing ninth. Talking about riding injured, Jeremy McWilliams must be the only guy on the planet to risk getting RSI in his ribs. A large off on Friday morning saw the Ulsterman break the same rib he has already broken twice before this season. His fifteenth on the grid was even more impressive knowing the pain he was in.

After a mix of wet and dry but consistently windy qualifying sessions, raceday dawned dry and warm. And when the lights changed and the initial kerfuffle died down, two bikes in particular were worthy of comment. Both were red. Capirossi got the drop on his front row colleagues and stormed into the lead, hotly pursued by Gibernau and Troy Bayliss, who got an outstanding start to move up to third from his third row start. Rossi, who only needed to take second place to tie up the title, was demoted to fourth with a great deal of work to do. Gibernau nailed his colours firmly to the mast with a classic firm-but-fair move on Capirossi, leaving a Ducati sandwich between the title contenders' bread. If things carried on like that then Rossi wouldn't be able to tie the series up until Valencia - Gibernau's home circuit. And that clearly wouldn't do. So, before the first lap was over, Rossi managed to get one over on not one but both Ducatis, passing two of the best riders on the circuit in the same bold move. Gibernau was trying to break away, despite the fact that even if he won, if Rossi finished second then the title fight was all over. Alex Barros looked threatening for a while, passing Capirossi and chasing the others while Bayliss' challenge faded. That battle continued throughout the rest of the race, Capirossi finally coming out on top. Further back, Colin Edwards was mounting a stealth offensive, quietly carving his way up through the field, eventually mugging his Honda colleague Barros and taking fourth place on the very last lap. Max Biaggi failed to make much of a dent on proceedings, climbing no higher than fifth and eventually finishing a lacklustre seventh behind Nicky Hayden. One big surprise was Makoto Tamada, who got an abysmal start to finish the first lap back in tenth place and struggled throughout the proceedings, finally finishing behind Biaggi in eighth. Troy Bayliss dropped back from the front pack to cross the line ninth in his last race for Ducati while Carlos Checa, in his last race for Yamaha, rounded off the top ten. Colin Edwards, by the way, will be replacing Checa as Dr Rossi's team-mate next year. Which should be interesting, to put it mildly.

Up at the front and battle was well and truly engaged. Nasty though it may sound, Gibernau's only hope of taking the 2004 title now lay with Rossi making a mistake and falling off. So the Spaniard piled on the pressure, riding harder and faster than he has ridden this year. And that's hard and fast. But Rossi proved to be up to the task. And then some, staying right behind Gibernau until the last lap after a brief spell in front. Then halfway through the final circuit, Rossi breezed past to take the chequered flag by just under a tenth of a second, along with the closest fought MotoGP title so far.

Further back down the field, Alex Hoffman's promising start came to little as the German finished thirteenth, just ahead of Jeremy McWilliams in a typically gritty ride. One day I'd like to use another adjective to describe a McWilliams result. Comfortable, perhaps. Or relaxed. Just something that doesn't give the impression of pain and suffering.

There is still a race to go, at Valencia, and there are still places to be decided. Colin Edwards, Makoto Tamada and Alex Barros are all in the running for fourth place, while Capirossi, Checa and Hayden are still duking it out for seventh. Xaus, Melandri, Nakano and Abe are all contenders for tenth while Neil Hodgson needs just one point to jump above Kenny Roberts Junior and take seventeenth.

Results

1 V Rossi, Yamaha
2 S Gibernau, Honda
3 L Capirossi, Ducati
4 C Edwards, Honda
5 A Barros, Honda
6 N Hayden, Honda
7 M Biaggi, Honda
8 M Tamada, Honda
9 T Bayliss, Ducati
10 C Checa, Yamaha

Championship Standing after 15 rounds

279 V Rossi (2004 MotoGP Champion)
244 S Gibernau
197 M Biaggi
144 A Barros
149 C Edwards
139 M Tamada
117 N Hayden
115 C Checa
110 L Capirossi
77 R Xaus