by Tom Nash, European Editor

2008 promises to be an interesting season on many fronts. John Hopkins has switched to Kawasaki after many years at Suzuki. The word in the pits is that the Kawasaki is a much-improved machine that has a legitimate chance of multiple podiums in 2008. Furthermore, after spending 2007 cleaning up the Harald Eckl debacle, Kawasaki competition manager Michael Bartholemy is 'completely convinced' that Kawasaki can challenge for the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. Kawasaki has chosen to further develop the 2007 bike rather than introduce an entirely new bike, so it will interesting to see if Hopkins can make it all happen for Kawasaki. Many fans feel that Hopkins has been held back by equipment, and the hope is that the switch to Kawasaki will eliminate that problem.

After a disappointing 2007 season, Valentino Rossi has managed a switch from Michelin to Bridgestone tires, effectively and literally splitting the Yamaha garage in two with a wall. Fiat Yamaha will be operating at a bit of a disadvantage with this combination because they have no previous data on the M1 / Bridgestone combination, effectively making every practice session at every race a tire testing session. In addition, any tire results from either side of the garage cannot be shared with the other side. This is a big gamble for Rossi. If it works he will be a hero. If it fails he will have a lot of egg on his face and some explaining to do.

Colin Edwards, who has been valuable to the entire Yamaha team due to his tire testing and development skills, has moved to the Yamaha satellite team and has been replaced on the factory team by newcomer Jorge Lorenzo. This is not an unexpected development after Edwards lack of consistent race results on the factory team.

Team Roberts' participation is still up in the air while they search for sponsors in this terribly expensive sport. They are the last “privateers” in MotoGP, and it would be a shame and the end of an era if they were to fail to compete. Most everyone harbors a secret “David versus Goliath” fantasy on behalf of Team Roberts, and it would be nice to see them pick up good sponsorship and do well.

The United Kingdom has had a tough time keeping a rider in the premier series, and the latest British hope in the paddock is James Toseland, the two-times World Superbike champion from Ten Kate Honda. James will be riding along side Colin Edwards on the Tech 3 Yamaha team.

There are other some new faces in the premier class, mostly graduates from the 250 class, with a lot of high hopes and learning curves. As far as riding style goes the 800's are a bit closer to the 250's than the 990's were, so the youngsters should get up to speed quickly.

2006 Wold Champion Nicky Hayden is recovering from shoulder surgery and should be ready for the pre-season testing scheduled to begin soon. Hayden apparently feels more comfortable on the new 2008 Honda than he did on last year's bike, so it will be interesting to see where he slots into the field. His Repsol Honda teammate Danny Pedrosa should be a challenger this year as well, so the Michelin-shod Repsol Honda team should have a strong season.

Casey Stoner has elected to use the Number 1 plate on his 2008 Ducati, and if his test times before the winter break are any indication, Stoner shows no sign of slowing down. The 2008 season is shaping up to be quite a battle between Stoner, Pedrosa, Hayden, and Rossi, with Hopkins a serious podium contender. This will be an interesting season indeed. Many fans have been complaining about “boring” seasons with years of first yellow and then red consistently winning, so perhaps these fans will get their wish and 2008 will be a thriller and a free for all.

One face that will be missed is the “old man” of MotoGP, Alex Barros. The late-30's father of three has retired from racing and it is not known if he has any immediate plans. Barros has been a class act and a role model for younger riders for a long time now, and his presence will be missed.

The current entry list for the 2008 Premier class in MotoGP is:

#1 Casey Stoner, Australia, Ducati Marlboro Team

#3 Alex de Angelis, San Marino, Honda Gresini

#4 Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, JiR Scot Team

#5 Colin Edwards, USA, Yamaha Tech 3

#7 Chris Vermeulen, Australia, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

#13 Anthony West, Australia, Kawasaki Racing Team

#14 Randy de Puniet, France, Honda LCR

#21 John Hopkins, USA, Kawasaki Racing Team

#24 Toni Elias, Spain, Team Alice

#26 Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Repsol Honda Team

#33 Marco Melandri, Italy, Ducati Marlboro Team

#46 Valentino Rossi, Italy, Fiat Yamaha Team

#48 Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Fiat Yamaha Team

#50 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Team Alice

#52 James Toseland, United Kingdom, Yamaha Tech 3

#56 Shinya Nakano, Japan, Honda Gresini

#65 Loris Capirossi, Italy, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

#69 Nicky Hayden, USA, Repsol Honda Team

#TBA To Be Advised, TBA, Team Roberts (possibly 2 riders.)