Fiat Yamaha Team's Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo (Photo: Yamaha Racing)

When Valentino left Honda to sign with Yamaha at the end of the 2003 season, it was a shocking decision. Yamaha was coming off a terrible season with only a single podium (Alex Barros at Le Mans) while Honda won 15 of the 16 races and took the first three places in the points table (Rossi won his third consecutive title with Honda, followed by Sete Gibernau with four wins, and Max Biaggi with two). Loris Cappirossi, fourth overall, had the only non-Honda win on his Ducati at Catalunya.

Taking Australian crew chief Jeremy Burgess and all but one of Mick Doohan's former crew with him, Rossi turned the Yamaha program around so quickly that he was able to kick off the 2004 season with a win over Max Biaggi (Honda) in the season opener in Welkom, South Africa.

Sete Gibernau on the Gresini Honda came back to win two in a row at Jerez and Le Mans. Then came three wins in a row by Rossi in Mugello, Catalunya, and Assen. Gibernau put up a hard fight, winning four races that year, but after the controversy at Qatar when Rossi believed that Gibernau had protested because the Yamaha crew had cleaned the asphalt of Rossi’s grid slot to insure a good start, Rossi and Gibernau became true enemies. The FIM, reacting to protests from several Honda teams, including Gibernau's team, punished the Yamaha team by making Rossi start from the back row.

Gibernau won that race and Rossi crashed trying to make up places (he was fourth on lap six).

After the race Rossi reportedly said “I will make sure Sete never wins another race.”