There is something beautiful to be found in a form of racing that's less about technology and TV rights than it is about simply trying to beat the other fellah with whatever you can afford to bring to the track. Sometimes the other fellah isn't a fellah at all, and sometimes he or she has better gear than you. But you do the best you can with what you brought and even if it takes a quick wrap of duct tape or a tie of bailing wire, you do your damnedest to make it to the next heat.

You don't lounge in a fancy RV between races, and your bike doesn't arrive in a shiny tractor-trailer and it doesn't plug into a computer. You drive yourself, or your dad or your cousin takes a turn, with your bike in the back of the van or on a flat bed trailer, and you sleep in a well-used sleeping bag that smells of solvent and dust.

If your bike gets stuck in third gear on the far side of the track, you may very well watch the next heat from that spot before anyone comes to help you out of the way.  And if you come around Turn 2 at full stick and there's Jimmy pulled over off the racing line, you pretty much just get on with it.

You wonder how they old guys managed without tear offs, which fly around the track like ghosts of the legends of American motorcycle racing, men who tamed unholy machines that aren't really all that different from what you're riding when you get right down to it. And just like they did, you ignore the aches and pains born from the last time the machine got the upper hand and tossed you off and you bring the best you got at that moment.

Do you do it because it might lead to fame and fortune? Some of those legends rode a metal shoe right off the dirt and onto the world stage. Is that going to be you? Probably not. But you keep on loading up the van and heading out, season after season, not to state of the art facilities in exotic locations with spacious run off areas and umbrella girls, but to fairgrounds, where people just like you can back their own trucks up to the fence and watch you go round.

You keep on racing flat track because it's thrilling, it's fun, and there's no traction control or engine limits or testing bans. There's no place for the racing to get lost among the demands of profit. As the sun sets, there's just you, you bike and the other fellahs. Even if they aren't all fellahs, they sure as hell are all there for a race, and that's exactly what you give 'em. 

The WSBK circus reconvened last weekend at the Automotodrom Brno, in the rolling hills of the southeast part of the Czech Republic. The nearby city of of the same name is located on the confluence of ancient trade routes, which is fitting, because the Roman Emperor, Max Biaggi, erstwhile buccaneer and master of all he surveys, certainly did the business at the hilly circuit, taking a second place and and a win on the day to boost his points lead to 68 over his nearest challenger, Alstare Suzuki's  Leon Haslam.

Race 1 -- Rea of Hope

After a frankly terrifying start where Jakob Smrz lost the front on his new-to-him Aprilia RSV4 into turn 1, skittling a hapless Max Neukirchner and Chris Vermuelen off track and out of the race, Ten Kate Honda's Jonny Rea took the lead with a pass on  at  turn 11 and settled into a fairly boring groove with Rea leading all 20 laps en route to his first victory since his double win at Assen more than two months ago.  After a miserable outing at Misano, where he finished 13th and 12th, the win was a much-needed boost to both Rea's and the Dutch team's morale.  The on-again off-again chattering problem that has plagued the Honda was held in abeyance, at least temporarily at Brno, enabling Rea do no wrong

Max Biaggi, who got shuffled back in the pack behind Rea, Cal Crutchlow and a newly resurgent Ruben Xaus, clawed his way up the order to catch Crutchlow with about 5 laps to go and the two had a tussle for the final steps on the podium, swapping the lead to and fro until Biaggi got the better of the Englishman and cruised to a second place finish. Crutchlow cited grip issues with the new Pirelli spec tires as the reason for his decaying performance in the race.

Series runner-up Leon Haslam also blamed tire woes  for his eighth place finish (and tenth in race two), claiming that while the new tire had more grip the team was unable to find a set-up to work with the new rubber compound.  The situation was reportedly so dire that teammate and 4th place finisher Sylvain Guintoli's settings were transferred to Haslam's bike in an effort to find a base. Alstare intends to go back to using the old tires at the next round in an attempt to keep Haslam's foundering title hopes from taking on anymore water.

Race 2  -- The Emperor Strikes Back

The second race started out much like the first, with Jonny Rea going to the front in short order. Unlike race one, however, Max Biaggi was able to slot into second position and begin to run down Rea fairly early. On lap seven Biaggi manged to get by Rea and set fast lap after fast lap en route to a 5 second gap at the finish that earned the ageless pirate his tenth win at the Czech circuit.

Xerox Ducati's Michel Fabrizio inherited third after a determined Ruben Xaus crashed out late in the race. Sterilgarda Yamah's James Toseland, who was battling a debilitating respiratory infection,  overcame a horrible start that saw him drop back to 15th to pass Noriyuki Haga 2 laps from the end to take fourth position.

Sick Call

The crash in race one that aggravated the knee injury that Chris Vermeulen has been nursing since the opening round caused the Austrailian to retire after two laps in on the second race. Prior to the race it was reported that Vermeulen was going to consult with a Spanish doctor and would determine whether further surgery on the injured joint would be necessary that would put the former MotoGP pilot out for the rest of the season. That decision has been mooted, however, with yesterday's announcement that Vermuelen will sit out the remainder of the season.

Thinner

FIM SBK Technical Direction further reduced the minimum weight of twin cylinder motorcycles (Mr. Subliminal: Ducati) another 3 kg after the Brno race to bring the minimum weight to 162 kg, the same as the four cylinder machines. One has to wonder how long this trend will continue or if the FIM will give serious thought to a modification of the twin's fuel delivery restrictor plates to restore competitiveness.

There's just something odd about having a race on Monday. Perhaps it's just habit formed from over thirty years of following motorcycle racing, but Sunday just seems to this commentator like the natural day to worship the gods (small G) of speed. Not that there weren't excellent rationalizations for having this year's US round of the World Superbike series on a Monday. May 31st is Memorial Day in the US --  a "Monday holiday", which is a peculiarly American way of making sure that we have a long weekend every now and then. The race is held in Utah, which has a high percentage of "religiously active" (PC speak for Mormon) folks and the promoters thought that having the race on a Monday would boost attendance (rightly so, apparently, attendance was the highest ever in the event's 3 year history). Infront, the organization that holds the rights to the series, supported the Monday running because they thought that European telecast viewership might increase due to the lack of competition by other sporting events.

Still, the phrase "race Monday" feels a little strange rolling off the tongue. Max Biaggi, double winner on the day,  would probably love to have all the other races rescheduled if they would have the same outcome. Heavy favorite Carlos Checa and the series leader going into this round, Leon Haslam, however, left Utah with a bad case of the Mondays.

Race 1 -- Die By Wire

Max Biaggi got the holeshot, using the Alitalia Aprilia's superior power to out-drag Carlos Checa to the first corner. Biaggi's lead was short-lived, however, and Checa soon passed him, using his Althea  Ducati's stability on the brakes to select his line with surgical precision. Biaggi harried Checa but the Spaniard was able to pull a tenth of a second on Biaggi nearly every lap until about two-thirds through, when he gained nearly a second over the space of two laps. It looked like that was the way the race would play out when Checa lost power, his 1098 dying a sudden death three laps shy of victory.

Checa slowly rolled to a stop and the pole-sitter leaned the Ducati against the Armco with a beseeching look rather like an old west cowboy whose favorite quarter horse had come to the end of the trail. Speculation abounded that a revised electronics package furnished to the team prior to Miller had failed but team sources indicate that a connection for the "fly-by wire" throttle had come awry. Biaggi, suddenly gifted with the lead, eventually crossed the line nearly 6 seconds in front of the second place finisher.

Series leader Leon Haslam had gotten a horrid start because 4th place qualifier Jacob Smrz' PATA Ducati started spewing smoke and fluids in it's wake nearly from the start, causing Haslam to have to hold up to avoid crashing. Haslam eventually worked his way up through the field via series of deft passes on the brakes, Xerox Ducati's Noriyuki Haga in tow, until he got to the other Leon, Camier. Camier kept Haslam behind his Aprilia for 6 laps, but the Alstare Suzuki rider was able to eventually get by, followed shortly by Haga.

Race 2 -- Gift Horses

Race 2 saw Checa jump out to a lead from the flag, gapping Biaggi by .7 seconds in the first lap. It looked like Checa, or rather his Ducati,  would atone for for his first race misfortune, when he again sputtered to a stop on lap 7. Checa said that the DNF was caused by a mysterious mechanical problem that "felt different" than the first race, but with the same result.

Leon Haslam got another miserable start and was putting on another braking clinic when he high-sided out of the race, his first DNF of the year. Birthday boy Haslam left Utah with a rather unwelcome gift; 17 stitches in his elbow and a chipped bone. Biaggi cruised to his second lonely win of the day ahead of teammate Camier and Sterilgarda Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow. Aprilia's 1-2 finish was their first double podium in World Superbikes.

Misano Madness

Biaggi's double win puts him 15 points ahead of Haslam in the title chase, the first time that the Alstare rider has relinquished the points lead this season. Haslam expects to be able to ride at the upcoming Misano test and should be nearly fully healed by the time of the Misano round at the end of June. Half-way through the season, the points battle  looks to be a two rider race with third place man, Jonny Rea, who had truly miserable weekend at Miller, lying 106 points adrift of Biaggi.

Max Biaggi is riding as well as he ever has and is in peak physical condition (this commentator saw him effortlessly vault over a three and a half foot tall gate at Miller, even after crashing in practice that morning). The Italian fans will be out in force at Misano, eager to see the Emperor ride like the pirate whose flag he displays on the podium. Max will be happy to oblige, even if it's on a Sunday.

Carlos Checa's public persona is that of a pretty low-key individual. So, it was completely in character for the Spanish veteran to say that the stunning 1:47.081 lap that he started the last Superpole session with was fantastic but the way that he accomplished it was "nothing special". Nothing special it might have been for the 37 year-old Checa, but for the rest of the pack it might have been as attainable as walking on the moon. Checa's hot lap earned him his second pole position in World Superbike and displaced the lap record he set here in 2008, which was his first. 

Second place man Max Biaggi almost had a day to forget when he crashed his RSV4 Aprilia in the afternoon warm-up session. Biaggi, unhurt in the incident, went out on track almost immediately on his back-up machine, but returned to the box after only a couple laps and stoically watched his Alitalia crew swab out the fine, silty, Utah dust that permeated nearly every nook and cranny of the RSV4. Biaggi's crew must have done a good clean-up job, because he trailed Checa by a mere .056 seconds in the first Superpole go-round and led the second over the Spaniard by .179.

The third session was red-flagged when Jakub Smrz and Johnny Rea high-sided their respective machines in rapid succession about midway through. Smrz didn't return to the track but his time held up so  the young Czech will start on the outside of the front row. Rea wasn't quite as lucky, as his Ten Kate Honda flipped back over the prone Ulsterman and left him with deep bruising on his leg and tire burns on his chest and neck that required that the rubber be literally scraped out of the wounds to his neck. Series leader Leon Haslam was also caught out by the red flag because he was on a flying lap on his final qualifying tire which didn't have enough life left in it to mount another attempt on the time sheets after the session resumed.

Barring catastrophe, tomorrow's races look to be a contest between the sheer speed of Biaggi and Checa's affinity for the 3.048 mile Miller circuit. Checa acknowleges that the key to a victory will be to get a good start to nullify the Aprilia's power advantage. The other riders on the front row agree. At the post-Superpole  meet and greet with the front-row finishers, Jakob Smrz was asked by a fan what kind of strategy it would take to beat Checa and Biaggi. To a roar of laughter from the crowd, Smrz said that all he had to do was get in front and not let either of them by. Third place qualifier Cal Crutchlow allowed that Smrz' strategy sounded pretty good to him. They may just have something there.

In racing time, Leon Haslam is about a million years old.  Born into a racing family, the 26 year-old Englishman has competed on everything from motocross to 500 GP bikes and he has the resume of a much older rider. It seems like the "Pocket Rocket" has been on the scene forever. Since starting his Superbike career in 2003, the one thing that Haslam has lacked has been the Really Good Ride. This year, after a 2009 season spent punching way above his weight on the privateer Stiggy Honda team,  Haslam has that good ride with the factory backed Alstare Suzuki team and he's taking maximum advantage of the opportunity.

Aboard what WSBK commentator Steve Martin characterizes as a kinder, gentler version of the GSXR1000 superbike, Haslam has led the championship since the thrilling photo-finish that decided race one at Phillip Island. Last weekend, at what might be the last Superbike race at Kyalami ever, Haslam's third in race one and exciting win in race two put him 15 points ahead of his nearest rival, Alitalia Aprilia's Max Biaggi, and brought him a couple of small steps closer to the 2010 World Superbike title

Race 1 -- Ducks In A Row

Michel Fabrizio got a rabbit start to take the lead, got out in front and stayed there for the rest of the race. Ho hum. What a difference a week makes. Carlos Checa, currently the leading Ducati rider in the standings, slotted into second early with James Toseland and Leon Haslam fighting it out for fourth until Toseland ran wide at the Westland turn on lap 12. The real excitement in race one came near the end,  Jonny Rea, who was mired near the bottom of the top ten for most of the race, made a late charge, dispatching Toseland and Leon Camier from the outside in one fell swoop with 4 laps to go to take fifth.

Race 2 -- Rule Britania

Race two was as different in character from race one as it is possible to be. Jonny Rea, who had his Ten Kate Honda team slap a slightly harder rear spring on his CBR1000RR in betwixt races, came within a lap and a half of winning, but was denied by a hard-charging Leon Haslam who had battled with the Ulsterman for nearly the entire race with Max Biaggi and Cal Crutchlow in tow.

You Can Never Be Too Rich Or Too Thin

In spite of Fabrizio's win in race one, as a result of their, for the most part, abysmal showing in the first five rounds, Ducatis twins will get a 3 kilo weight break starting at the next round in Salt Lake City. As math has never been this commentator's strong suit, an explanation by me would probably confuse all of us. You can read an excellent summation on this site, authored by our own Mr. Emmett.

All sorts of rumors have been swirling about the paddock concerning Ducati, the juiciest being that Troy Bayliss will make a comeback. Ducati will test at Misano in mid-June with the three-time WSBK champion in attendance and the Misano round is a scant two weeks hence so it wouldn't be overly surprising to see the Aussie back in the saddle then. Carlos Checa is expecting to get help from Ducati on the parts front, most likely an improved electronics package.

See The USA

The circus will make the trek across the pond to Miller Motorsports Park in two weeks. For our readers not conversant in American holidays, The race will be run on a Monday -- May 31st -- which is Memorial Day in the US. This commentator hopes to see some of you there.

Back in the days of the Roman Empire,  the ruling class would stage contests whereby gladiators would fight to the death for the entertainment of the unwashed classes. The citizenry would typically get the day off from their labors for these "holidays" and these rituals of blood and death became extremely popular, so much so that the term "Roman Holiday" became a metaphor for the concept of deriving entertainment from the suffering of others.

Yesterday at Monza, a modern-day Roman, Max Biaggi, made his fellow competitors suffer and there's no doubt that the man called the Emperor and his paisanos in the audience, Italian or otherwise, enjoyed every second of his double win at the venerable northern Italy track.

Monza. It's a name that fairly quivers with racing history. There has been organized road-racing on this site since the early twentieth century and the bones of the old banked track still linger in the shadow of the modern cicuit, covered in vegetation, redolent with the vibrations of bygone triumph and tragedy. Italian is a musical language and names like the Curva Parabolica , Curva di Lesmos and the Variante Ascari are like the lyrics of a song whose accompaniment is the staccato rise and fall of finely tuned internal combustion engines.

The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is one of the longest circuits on the calendar and its long straights, wide curves and fast chicanes demand copious top end power. Indeed, statistics show that the machines are at full song for over half the track length. The track has undergone a significant modification to the Prima Variante chicane, to prevent it being the bottleneck that claimed Max Neukirchner, Makoto Tamada and Brendan Roberts in 2009's first race.

The asphalt alterations have shortened the circuit by 16 meters  and made the area faster and more flowing, an arrangement that is more in keeping with the rest of the track layout. The V-4 Aprilia RSV4, with its miniscule frontal drag area and prodigious horsepower output, seems to have been tailor-made for just such an application and during practice and qualifying, Biaggi coaxed his stunning florescent orange and green Alitalia liveried machine to the fastest top speeds ever seen in World Superbike competition and captured his first ever Superpole.

Race 1 -- Render Unto Caesar

Biaggi jumped out to an early lead from his position on pole and was never really headed, except briefly by points leader Leon Haslam. The Yamahas of James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow caught up to the lead pair with Ten Kate Honda's Jonny Rea in hot pursuit. Rea's day in the saddle ended abruptly on lap six, his CBR1000RR catapulting itself atop the tire wall that flanks the Parabolica after the Ulsterman attempted a pass on the Sterilgarda duo that asked for a bit too much from his Pirelli front tire. 

Toseland and Crutchlow relegated Leon Haslam to fourth and proceeded to natter at each other, which allowed Biaggi to pull slightly away. By time Toseland had dispensed with his teammate and set out after the Emperor with the same grim determination that got him on the box twice at Assen, it was a little too little, a little too late and Biaggi took his third win of the season by a quarter of a second over the former 2-time world champion.

Race 2 -- For the Want of a Nail

Biaggi again jumped out to an early lead at the start, but back in the pack the sort of accident that the revisions to the Prima Variante chicane were supposed to prevent happened. It's hard to tell exactly what caused the wreck from replays of race footage, but it looks like Haga clipped James Toseland's brake lever, causing the Sterilgarda Yamaha rider to go down, "skittling" (as Rea put it) Ruben Xaus and Jonny Rea and forcing a number of other riders to go straight on the run-off road exiting the chicane.

As in race one, the lead pack became Biaggi, Haslam and Crutchlow, with Biaggi and Crutchlow eventually dropping the Alstare Suzuki rider, who was busily fending off the unwelcome attentions of BMW mounted Troy Corser. Crutchlow hounded and harried Biaggi looking for just the right opening until a rock kicked up by the RSV4 holed the Sterilgarda R1's oil cooler, which lubricated it's rear Pirelli and caused the 2009 World Supersport champion to crash in the Prima Variante run-off lane.  With no one else left within challenging distance, Biaggi cruised to his second victory of the day. Haslam crossed the line 5 seconds behind the Roman, followed closely by Corser, who gave BMW its first podium.

Into Africa

Biaggi's double victory allowed him to take 17 points off series leader Haslam, putting the Emperor a mere three points behind in the title standings. Jonny Rea's disastrous double DNF leaves him in third, tied with Althea Ducati's Carlos Checa at 71 points adrift. The Ducati Doldrums continued with Fabrizio's 3rd in Superpole and Haga's 6th in race two the only relatively bright spot in an otherwise grim weekend. Whether the cause of the lack of results is a rules disadvantage against the four cylinder machines, or a platform that has neared the end of its development life, as Davide Tardozzi claimed in 2009, something has to be done to stem the tide and soon, before Haga, already 85 points behind in the championship, loses all hope of contesting for the title.

That hope may lie in Kyalami, where Haga doubled in 2009. Assuming that the team is able to make the trip, of course -- the DFX Corse team has already announced that they will not appear in South Africa or Salt Lake City, citing travel difficulties caused by a "force majeur" Whether that force was the Icelandic Death Cloud Redux or a lack of funding is unclear.

If there is a race (and there's no reason to believe at this point  there won't), one thing is for certain -- there'll be a certain Roman looking to make his rivals suffer -- and loving every minute of it.

Assen has always been one of those special tracks where the event transcends mere pavement and landscape. Although in recent times purists have decried that the TT circuit was emasculated by the excision of the “Northern Loop”, the track has always lent itself to great spectacles of speed, even in truncated form. The critics were mollified somewhat this year by a revised layout that saw the entry to the Ruskenhoek section straightened somewhat, eliminating the much-reviled “Crochet Hook” and restoring some of the fast, flowing character to the venerable cathedral.

As for spectacles of speed, there was absolutely no shortage of the fairing-bashing, take no prisoners type of contest that has been drawing motorcycle racing fans to the Dutch TT since 1949. Although this commentator isn’t much of a statistics wonk, one figure in particular  captures the flavor of the event perfectly -- 15 laps into race 2, a mere 0.997 seconds separated first through sixth place. That’s close racing in anyone’s book.

Rea of Sunshine

Prior to the race, Ten Kate Honda’s Jonny Rea said that it was going to take “big balls” to exploit the increased potential afforded by the track’s revised layout. Much as one hesitates to posit on what just exactly lurks beneath a Scotsman’s kilt, we’ll take it on a faith based on the young Ulsterman’s results, that, whatever it took, they fit beneath his Alpinestars leathers.

From the first practice, The 2007 British Superbike runner-up was at or near the top of the time sheets in every session, culminating in a staggering Superpole effort that saw him lop 2.7 seconds off Ben Spies 2009 time. Race one saw Rea take the lead halfway through and withstand spirited challenges from 2-time WSBK champions Troy Corser and James Toseland to take the win. Race two was more of the same, with Rea able to pull a small gap on the field with 2 laps to go after an Assen-typical race-long tussle in a lead pack that included Corser, Toseland, the two Leons and Max Biaggi. 

Whether it was a revised set-up that Rea said made the bike more comfortable to ride, the newly-installed HRC electronics package or simply the attitude that allowed the Ten Kate pilot to ride the  "smartest I've ever ridden",  his double win at Assen that moved him up to third in the championship standings has put the paddock on notice that Jonny Rea intends to be a serious contender for the title run.

Play Us a Song, Piano Man

No one could argue that James Toseland has had a rocky return to World Superbikes. A broken hand suffered the series opener at Phillip Island, coupled with a Yamaha that perhaps wasn't as good as a certain American made it look in 2009, have conspired to frustrate the normally upbeat Yorkshireman. A podium in race one at Valencia was a rare highlight in a season of struggle. Things didn't look much better after Superpole at Assen, where a 180mph wheelie 3 turns from the end of a fast lap left Toseland languishing in tenth position on the grid.

Come Sunday, both races played out similarly with the Sterilgarda Yamaha rider advancing briskly through the field to the front  and managing to land on the box with a second in Race 1 and a third in Race 2. Whether the improved results came from a ubiquitous "something" found in a revised rear suspension linkage or from Toseland's evident intention to beat the R1 into submission by sheer force of will is a moot point -- JT's back.

Round, Rubber and Rolls

Not long into race one, it was clear that something was wrong in Leon Haslam's world. This year's points leader had dropped like a rock thrown into a pond from his fourth place qualifying position down to a low of 16th. Turned out the trouble was a slight puncture on the Alstare GSXR1000's front Pirelli that allowed half the air pressure to escape out into the atmosphere from whence it came. Race tires run considerably less air pressure than those used on the street but keeping up with the best superbike riders in the world requires more than a dozen pounds per square inch in the front doughnut. All things considered, however, Haslam's 11th place was a very creditable finish, given the circumstances. Normal service resumed in Race 2 with the Pocket Rocket and eventual race winner Rea dueling until the last couple laps when Rea was able to pull a half second gap.

Crocodile Rock

When Troy Corser left Yamaha at the end of the 2008 season, the word in the paddock was that the Australian 2-time World Superbike champion had lost the ability to seal the deal and win a race, something he hadn't been able to do during his tenure aboard the Yamaha Italia R1. When the fledgling BMW superbike effort signed Corser, wags speculated that a development role on the way to the old rider's home was in store for the aging ex-champion, not that any of those wags would have said it to his face. 2009 was a frustrating year for Corser with mostly mid and rear of the pack finishes and 6 DNF's. The sole highlight was a 5th in race one at Brno. 

Such is to be expected for a rider past his prime on a team that had zero experience on the world roadracing stage, said the pundits. One of the perceived problems of the team, the lack of experienced race team management, was rectified when Davide Tardozzi, on the rebound from an inglorious exit from his long-time job with the factory Ducati team, was signed to manage the squad. 

Tardozzi's influence wasn't readily apparent early in the 2010 season, with mid-pack finishes for Corser and with co-rider Ruben Xaus reportedly afraid to ride the S1000RR in the wake of  four pre-race crashes at the opening round at Phillip Island. At Valencia, however, things had improved, as evidenced by Corser's fourth place qualifying position and 5th place finish in race one.

At Assen, it was quickly evident that Corser had become comfortable on the BMW with top 3 positions in practice and qualifying, and a front row starting position after placing third in Superpole. Come race day, it was the Troy Corser of old who lined up on the grid. Jumping out to the lead in both races, Corser led a total of 15 laps between the two sessions until rear grip issues shuffled him back to a pair of 5th place finishes.

Whither Thou, Ducati?

With 13 rider's championships and 16 manufacturer's championships, the name Ducati is virtually synonymous with World Superbike racing. With such a proud tradition, failure is not suffered lightly by the factory or by the marque's fans. After last year's loss of the world championship to Yamaha, where team management was roundly criticized -- fairly or unfairly -- for it's failure to reign in Michel Fabrizio so that Haga could score a few more points, heads rolled at Xerox Ducati. Long-time multi world  championship winning team manager Davide Tardozzi left the team by his own accord, or at least that's what he told the press.

In his place, Ernest Marinelli, long-time Ducati employee and crew chief to the stars, took over the management role. Although there have been bright spots, such as Haga and Fabrizio's podiums at Phillip Island and Haga's win at Valencia, this year has, by and large, been an embarrassment for the factory team, not the least of which is  being in the ignominious position of being regularly beaten by the Althea satellite team.

At Assen, with the team's hopes buoyed by Haga's victory at the previous round, the wheels really fell off the red wagon. To illustrate how pitiful the team's performance was, Haga's battle in race one for his eventual tenth place was the highlight of the weekend. After Haga's retirement with mechanical issues in race two, a TV camera caught the Japanese rider communicating with team management in sign language  with a gesture that either looked like a tachometer needle with it's revs waning or something formerly erect going limp.

With finishes of 12th and 13th, limp is as apt a term as any to describe Michel Fabrizio's performance on the weekend. Always a streaky kind of rider, Fabrizio was thought to have finally made the leap to the upper tier of riders in 2009 with  three wins and 13 podiums. This year, Mr Fabulous isn't looking so fabulous with two podiums at Phillip Island being the highlights of his year so far. Since the oiland, Fabrizio's season has gone right into the toilet with nary a top ten finish and a couple of DNFs during an execrable weekend in Valencia. Watch out Michel, there's a Czech kid on a privateer Ducati that a lot of people think is way overdue for a a shot at a factory ride.

Mambo Italiano

Going into Monza, the season is unfolding as a lot of fans had hoped -- multiple winners on multiple marques with close, exciting racing being the rule, not the exception. Leon Haslam, pneumatic failures notwithstanding, managed to pad his points lead to 20 over Max Biaggi. British fans are well chuffed, dreams of limey world domination dancing in their heads, in the aftermath Assen's all Brit podiums.  With so many able riders piloting so many able machines, one hesitates to make predictions but one thing's for sure -- if Xerox Ducati can't break out of their slump on home soil, tomato sauce isn't the only red fluid that the passionate paisanos will be calling for.

Before the 20210 World Superbike season began, pundits (including yours truly) took great relish in playing  the prognostication game. In this fantasy world, the Xerox Ducati teammates of Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio were the odds-on pre-season favorites. Some, however, conjectured that Haga was so psychologically devastated from flinging away the 2009 championship at the last round at Portimao that he wouldn't be able to go through the same excruciating process this year, but most thought that when push came to shove, Nitro Nori would summon his inner warrior and make yet another serious quest for his first World Superbike championship.

Other sure contenders were thought to be Max Biaggi, aboard an Aprilia RSV4 that would benefit from a year of development, Jonny Rea, also in his sophomore year on the Ten Kate Honda, James Toseland and Chris Vermeulen, who both had something to prove after their demotion from MotoGP. And, oh yeah, Leon Haslam was doing good things in testing on the Alstare Suzuki and was clearly a man to be watched.

The first two rounds showed why the pundits write about motorcycle racing instead of living off earnings gained by picking the ponies. Championship leader Haslam has indeed been a force to be reckoned with, with one race win and three second place finishes. Biaggi, with his recent double win at Portimao, has shown that he hasn't lost anything and is still the Roman Emperor of old. Vermeulen and Toseland have gotten hurt and haven't really made the impact that they were predicted.

Most disappointing, however have been the Dynamic Ducati duo at the factory Xerox team. Although they started out the season creditably well at Phillip Island with two podiums for Fabrizio and one for Haga, they fell off the the edge of the Earth at Portimao. If Haga was to regain the form necessary to fight for the title, he needed to make a statement of intent and he needed to make it soon.  The Ricardo Tomo Circuit near Valencia, with it's tight, twisty layout that theoretically favored the torquey Ducati twins was thought to be a near-perfect spot for a season turn-around. Superpole wasn't that statement with both Haga and Fabrizio failing to make the cut for the final session.

Race 1 -- Neon Leon

Troy Corser, who claims that he has finally gotten "comfortable' on the BMW S1000RR after extensive electronics modifications to the German machine, got a rocket start from his fifth-place grid position ahead of the ageless duo of Carlos Checa and Max Biaggi. Polesitter Cal Crutchlow didn't fare nearly as well and was shuffled back to seventh position. Checa nosed ahead of Corser near the end of the first lap, and after a bit of scuffling between the pair, edged out to a short-lived lead.

On lap three, Checa turned a miracle save into a gravel nap a scant turn later, giving the lead back to Corser. Corser's lead lasted a brief  two laps when series leader Haslam went by the Australian on the brakes going into turn one. From then on out, the Pocket Rocket maintained a comfortable lead en route to his second race win of the 2010 season.

Behind Haslam, Corser, Max Biaggi and James Toseland, who had made an admirable run to the front from his 9th place staring position, settled into a lead pack that included Biaggi's Alitalia Aprilia teammate Leon Camier as the tail gunner on a tight 4-rider formation. Camier crashed out on lap eight and Toseland got by Biaggi and Corser to slot into second.  Corser slipped to fourth on lap ten and Toseland and Biaggi commenced a tussle for the second spot on the podium that saw Biaggi gain the upper hand with 4 laps to go.

Race 2 -- Return of the Samurai

Carlos Checa jumped out to an early lead from the start, then the race was red-flagged when a luckless Simon Andrews, who had replaced an injured Chris Vermeulen on the Paul Bird Kawasaki team, came together with Vittorio Iannuzzo on lap three. BSB stalwart Andrews, who claimed that the accident was the Italian's fault, suffered a broken foot in the scary-looking collision.

On the re-start, the pair of flourescent orange and green Alitalia Aprilias quickly went to the lead, with the other Leon, Camier, ahead of Max Biaggi.  Camier was the leader on the track, but Carlos Checa was in front on aggregate time, having carved out a .6 second advantage before the stoppage of the race. Camier maintained his physical lead until about half-way through the race, when he suffered his second crash of the day in turn 12.

After Camier retired, Haga, who had made his way up from his starting position of 11th to join the lead pack, went into the lead, with Biaggi and Checa trailing behind, with neither having to actually pass the Xerox Ducati rider to win the race. The last few laps were a combination of tactics and mathematics (a combination that always makes this commentator's head hurt) that saw Haga nip Checa for his first win of the 2010 season by .025 seconds.

Dutch Treat?

Leon Haslam continues to lead the series going into Assen, padding his lead over Max Biaggi to 18 points. Haslam, who podiumed twice at the Dutch track in 2009 on the privateer Stiggy Honda, will again be the rider to watch. All eyes will also be on Haga, who won one race and finished second in 2009. The question that begs answering is whether Haga can back up the statement he made on Sunday in Spain.

The start of the 2010 season finds MotoGP in a deeply schizophrenic state. The MotoGP class remains sparsely populated, with just 17 riders on the grid - despite prospects of one new manufacturer running wildcards and another looking to enter the series full time once the paddock returns to Europe. Meanwhile, in the brand new Moto2 class which replaces the 250cc two strokes, 40 riders are scheduled to take to the start at Qatar.

This year sees a bumper crop of rookies enter MotoGP, bringing some much-needed fresh blood into the class, along with a healthy dose of excitement. At the same time, the podium lineup at every race is as good as fixed, with the Fantastic Four almost certain to claim the lion's share of the silverware, leaving the rest of the field to pick over what remains.

Added to this, we've had rules introduced to reduce costs, which this year at least have caused the manufacturers to spend more to prepare for the cost-cutting rules. With each rider having just 6 engines to last the full 18 races, the factories have had to pour resources into R&D to ensure riders aren't facing costly penalties if they don't quite make it all the way to Valencia without taking an extra engine. With that work now done, the factories will start to make big savings, as the need to fly back a cargo load of engines - often two or more per rider - to their R&D centers in Japan and Bologna to be stripped down and rebuilt has now been removed. By the end of the 2011 season, the engine rule should be paying dividends for the manufacturers.

The Fantastic Four...Five...Six...

What makes the 2010 MotoGP season such a mouth-watering prospect is that we are, as veteran MotoGP journalist Mike Scott put it a couple of weeks ago, in the middle of a new Golden Age for motorcycle racing's premier class. Arguably the greatest motorcycle racer the world has ever seen is at the very top of his ability, and being pushed to extend himself by the competition. That competition consists of not just one, but three other riders, while more wait in the wings. On any given day, the order of the podium is completely unknown, though the faces which fill it are nearly identical every week.

As reigning champion, Valentino Rossi is determined to defend his title for the 8th time, bringing him level with Giacomo Agostini's premier class record and bringing his total world title count to 10. Rossi has all but dominated pre-season testing, topping the timesheets in nigh on every session. While clearly much of that is down to the talent of the Italian, the results of the other Yamaha riders demonstrate that some of the credit has to go Masao Furusawa and the Yamaha race department, who have taken an already strong bike and made it even better. The new long-life engine has more torque and mid-range, yet those gains have not come at the expense of top end, the M1 easily matching the pace of the other bikes down the straights. A fast bike, a strong challenge and a few bottles apparently drawn from the Fountain of Youth stashed away somewhere, Rossi has found new motivation, which combined with his usual mixture of determination, guile and sheer talent, will make the Italian a very hard man to beat.

Hard, but not impossible. Especially given that Rossi's challenge comes from two opposite directions, meaning the Italian can neither allow his guard to drop nor focus on just one man. For if Rossi neglects Casey Stoner to concentrate on Jorge Lorenzo, then the Australian will not hesitate to plunge in the knife. The same holds true for Lorenzo: should Rossi get caught up in holding off Stoner for too long, Rossi's young Spanish teammate will be hovering like a starved hyena and ready to pounce.

Both Stoner and Lorenzo have the raw speed needed to beat the veteran Rossi, and both riders have had hard lessons in racecraft at the hands of The Doctor. Yet both men are also keen and diligent students, only likely to fall for something once. Casey Stoner had his lesson at Laguna Seca in 2008, when Rossi made his M1 so wide that the Australian dumped his Ducati in the gravel in frustration at not being able to get past. But 14 months later, Stoner showed he had learned his lesson, holding off Rossi at his home Grand Prix in Phillip Island with consummate skill, never giving the Italian a chance.

That victory was part of a run of three which signaled the Australian's return to racing, after a mystery illness - finally diagnosed as lactose intolerance - forced Stoner to miss three races in the middle of 2009, much to the annoyance of Marlboro, the Ducati team's big-money sponsor. But the break was needed, as the Australian's struggle with his health had been painfully obvious, finishing races from Barcelona onwards in a state of utter exhaustion.

Once they'd narrowed the problem down during the summer break, Stoner was back, and stronger than ever. Finishing second at Estoril, the Marlboro Ducati rider took the next three races in a row, and only a mystery tire problem which saw Stoner highside out on the warmup lap at Valencia put paid to further success.

Casey Stoner starts the 2010 season with a winter of training - both physical and in identifying foodstuffs which could cause him problems - behind him, fitter and probably faster than ever before. In addition to that, Ducati have hugely improved the Desmosedici, giving it a new big bang firing order making much easier to ride at the limit. With everything in place for Casey Stoner to succeed, the Australian is going to mount a formidable challenge for 2010, a challenge which might just prove insurmountable.

Brothers In Arms

Valentino Rossi won't be the only rider vying to dismiss Stoner's challenge, though. Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo will be right there with Rossi and Stoner every step of the way. Lorenzo's second season in the premier class saw him lose much of the wildness he had displayed in his rookie year in MotoGP, crashing both less frequently and less painfully, helped in part by the new D-Air "airbag" leathers from Dainese, which probably saved his collarbone from worse at Laguna Seca.

Along with smoothing off his rough edges, Lorenzo also received a little one-on-one tutoring from his Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi. At Barcelona, Lorenzo allowed Rossi to dive underneath him in the final corner, convinced he already had the race in the bag. Then at Brno, keen to avoid a repeat of the Barcelona experience, Lorenzo slid out of the race trying to hold Rossi off. He learned quickly, though, forcing Rossi to make an almost identical mistake at the next race, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With another year's experience under his belt, Lorenzo looks like posing the toughest challenge yet to Rossi's title aspirations. The Spaniard is on identical machinery - a demand he forced through during contract negotiations last summer - and was on course to get his best shot at taking the title before cracking a thumb in a training accident. Lorenzo starts in Qatar with a painful hand, and still not fully recovered. With the competition as tough as it is, the Spaniard will start the season with one hand tied behind his back. By Jerez, though, Lorenzo should be back to full fitness, and a serious threat once again.

The last of the Fantastic Four is in danger of losing his Alien status. Dani Pedrosa was brought into the Repsol Honda squad to reclaim the title that HRC regards as rightfully theirs. But after a strong - if tainted, after that incident at Estoril - start to his career, Pedrosa has failed to score better than his by now ritual two wins a season.

Only part of that is down to the Spaniard though. In 2007, the bike HRC built to be small and agile, and suit lightweight riders, was completely blown away by the high-powered Ducati. Improvements came in 2008, but the bike still had problems with balance and stability, problems which continued through 2009. A switch to Ohlins suspension was meant to cure that issue, but problems continue - at least for Pedrosa - despite HRC's extraordinary mea culpa, blaming itself for not providing Pedrosa the bike to win.

Patience on both sides is starting to wear thin. For the first time in years, Pedrosa starts the season fully healthy and recovering from neither injury nor surgery, but he finds himself confronted with a bike he is struggling to ride. The Spaniard finished the final test of the preseason in lowly 13th position, far below where both he and Honda expect and demand to be, and over a second and a half behind the leader, Casey Stoner.

Pedrosa's problems revolve around the Ohlins suspension, which HRC is now using in place of Showa. Pedrosa grew up using Showa, racing on them throughout his career in 125s, 250s and now MotoGP. With Showa gone, Pedrosa is having to completely relearn bike setup, and is struggling to eliminate the pumping from the rear shock that is upsetting his balance on the brakes. All of the 2010 RC212Vs are suffering similar problems, but Andrea Dovizioso and LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet - who have both been using Ohlins for some time now - were 3rd and 8th fastest respectively at Qatar a month ago.

Pedrosa will need to find solutions quickly, as will Honda. Pedrosa's status as the fourth Alien is in danger, with riders coming up behind him. There's still no doubt that Pedrosa has the talent to win, his problem seems to be that he can only win when he has his day. The other three members of the Fantastic Four seem to be able to take victories any time, anywhere.

Knocking At The Door

Snapping at Pedrosa's heels come a pack of hungry young - and old - riders, eager to take a step closer to the podium and transform the Fantastic Four in the Fabulous Five, or Superb Six, or Special Seven. The rider widely tipped to be the first to break into that select group is the man who shocked the World Superbike paddock last season, Ben Spies. The Texan entered the WSBK class last year and from the very start, took poles and wins at tracks he had never even visited before - including a double victory at Losail in Qatar, the site of the MotoGP season opener. By the end of the season - thanks in no small part to his crew chief, Tom Houseworth and his mechanic, Greg Wood - Spies had taken the championship at the first attempt, holding off the man that many had penciled in for the title, Xerox Ducati's Noriyuki Haga.

Spies brings both House and Woody to the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, and perhaps more importantly, he brings their solid and methodical way of working. But any hopes that Spies and his crew can repeat what they achieved in World Superbikes need to be tempered. Firstly, Spies still has some learning to do - though the fact he consistently finished inside the top 5 during testing demonstrates his ability to learn.

The Bridgestone front tire poses a particular problem for the Texan. Spies is finding it very hard to wrap his head around just how fast the front tire is up to temperature, and how hard it can be pushed from cold. He is still finding the limits of the tire at the start, though he told a press conference last week that he was fine once the tire started to lose grip, around the halfway stage. Given how well Spies did in the second half of the race at Valencia, fighting his way through to 7th after dropping to 11th in the early stages, the American could become a real threat once the season gets underway.

To expect Spies to factor at the start of the year is a little too much to ask, though. Firstly, the series doesn't really hit tracks he has ridden at until the time MotoGP arrives at Assen, at the end of June. Secondly, but perhaps more crucially, despite the obvious talent on the World Superbike grid, Spies is up against the four best riders in the world, together with another handful capable of beating most riders on most other days. The chance that Spies will equal the record of Kenny Roberts Senior, and take the premier class title at the first attempt is very slim indeed.

Even a win will be difficult, though Spies' teammate Colin Edwards believes this year represents the best chance that satellite riders - and Spies and himself in particular - have ever had of winning a race. The engine limits - so vilified by the purists - may end up boosting the fortunes of the privateers. Though the factory riders will still have the latest upgrades first, engine upgrades will be far less frequent, keeping the playing field level for longer and improving the chances of the satellite riders.

Edwards hopes to be the prime beneficiary of this change, and finally get the win he has been chasing for so long. Like Rossi, Edwards is improving with age, though the Texan is a good deal older than his Italian former teammate. Last year, Edwards showed that he deserved the #5 he uses by finishing the season in 5th position, ahead of four other factory machines. He may find that position a good deal more difficult to hold on to this year, though: The Yamaha M1 is unquestionably good, and probably still the best bike on the grid, but along with a hungry teammate, he faces fresh challengers as well.

Taking Over

The strongest challenge is likely to come from the man he pipped to 5th in the title race last year. Andrea Dovizioso has used the experience he gained from his mid-season switch to Ohlins suspension last year to find a very strong base setup for his Repsol Honda RC212V. The Italian finished ahead of his teammate in the two last tests, and is sounding increasingly confident in interviews, a stark contrast with the barely-disguised despair of Dani Pedrosa.

But Dovizioso is under pressure to succeed. The Italian will need to start getting closer to his teammate if he is to keep his job at the end of the season. The contracts of the Fantastic Four are all up at the end of the year, and Dovizioso could find the second seat at Repsol Honda a popular target for rookies and veterans showing promise as part of a larger HRC shakeup. If Pedrosa moves and Dovizioso fails to keep pace with the front four, he could find himself exploring other options, despite his strong ties to HRC.

Dovizioso isn't the only rider to be under pressure. The burden of needing to start scoring regular results falls even more heavily on Nicky Hayden in 2010. After a high-profile switch to Ducati for 2009, the likeable Kentucky native was baffled and befuddled by the hard-to-tame Desmosedici GP9. Hayden only just kept his job at Ducati after Jorge Lorenzo turned it down in the middle of last year, though the fact that Hayden helped sell a lot of Ducati 848 Laguna Seca replicas helped him in that respect.

There is plenty of reason to be hopeful, though. Two factors have conspired to give Nicky Hayden his best chance of redemption since winning the 2006 MotoGP title. The first is the greatly improved rideability of the Ducati Desmosedici, the big bang firing order engine making the bike more tractable, while simultaneously saving fuel. The second is simply experience, having data he can use when he turns up at a track. Hayden and his crew spent several races chasing their tails last year, desperately searching for a setup which would work for him. With a year's data to work from, Hayden hopes to be up to speed much more quickly, so he can concentrate on getting the last few tenths out of the bike, instead of struggling to find a second or more. Given Hayden's improved results during testing, the Marlboro Ducati rider could finally have be competitive week in and week out.

The question of whether Randy de Puniet can run at the front with the Fantastic Four still remains open. The Frenchman has often shown exceptional speed, but a lack of consistency and a linger tendency to crash - largely dissipated by the switch to Bridgestones - keep preventing De Puniet from making a major breakthrough.

Just as at Yamaha, though, the satellite Hondas are much closer to the factory bikes this year, giving De Puniet a genuine shot at the front of the field. With a strong chance of factory seats opening up next season, De Puniet's chances of getting a factory ride have never been better. As long as he gets the results.

C'Era Una Volta

Once upon a time, Marco Melandri was penciled in for a factory ride, after some outstanding results aboard the Gresini Honda at the end of the 990cc MotoGP era. But since the switch to 800s, Melandri's fortunes have waned, hitting a low point during his year at Ducati in 2008. The Italian redeemed himself astoundingly last year, riding a Kawasaki rebadged as a Hayate, after Kawasaki pulled out of MotoGP.

This year he returns to the Gresini team, no longer sponsored by Fortuna as in Melandri's heyday, but instead by San Carlo, and a host of other smaller sponsors. Melandri had been hoping for a return of his glory days, but so far, the Italian has suffered a similar fate to Dani Pedrosa and his teammate Marco Simoncelli. Melandri has struggled to find any pace, suffering the same lack of balance that Pedrosa has reported with the Ohlins suspension. If Melandri and HRC can't find a solution to those problems, Melandri's last chance at a factory ride will be gone, and 2010 could well end up being his last season in MotoGP.

Every year, fans and commentators speculate that this season will be Loris Capirossi's last in MotoGP. And every year, the Italian veteran - scheduled to start his record-breaking 300th Grand Prix on Sunday - earns the right to stay on for yet another season. He starts his 21st season at Qatar, and has already told the press he hopes to stay on for a season aboard the 1000cc bikes, due to make their debut in 2012.

During testing, Capirossi has been very strong, the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R finding some of the performance that it was lacking last year. But Suzuki's problem has always been that they usually do well in testing at Qatar and especially Sepang, the two venues for pre-season testing this year. So we will only get a real idea of the Suzuki's potential once the series moves on to Japan, and from there back to Europe. There is no question about Capirossi's motivation or his sheer talent, 21 years at the top of the motorcycle racing world is testament enough to that. The key to Capirossi's success lies not with the 37-year-old Italian, but in Japan, with Suzuki's engineers. Have they finally come up with the goods to turn the GSV-R from also-ran to front runner.

From testing, it's clear that this is exactly what Ducati have done, and that will surely help Mika Kallio. The Finnish rider had a strong rookie season, regularly beating the suffering Nicky Hayden, but still struggling to get well into the top 10. His best chance came at Assen, when he crashed out in the penultimate corner, while scrapping over 6th place with James Toseland.

During testing, Kallio has continued to run in the bottom of the top 10, so there is still room for improvement for the Pramac Ducati rider. With a pack of rookies snapping at his heels - riders who he rode against and only occasionally beat - Kallio will have to show some improvement to be certain of his job in 2011.

Fresh Meat

It is a truism that the first person a racer has to beat is his teammate, but that is particularly apt in the case of Kallio. He is joined once again by Aleix Espargaro, the Spaniard who took the place of Niccolo Canepa at the end of last season. Of the bumper crop of rookies joining MotoGP in 2010, Espargaro is perhaps the dark horse - though it is debatable whether Espargaro and Spies can truly be regarded as rookies, despite qualifying under the strict definition set out in the FIM rulebook.

The Spaniard raised a few eyebrows last year, subbing first for Kallio, then for Canepa in the Pramac Ducati team. With a full off-season of testing under his belt, his first goal will to beat Kallio, and then to start challenging for the top 5. The depth of talent in MotoGP this season is going to make that a pretty formidable task.

If Espargaro is one dark horse, then Hector Barbera could be even more of a surprise. The former 250 title candidate comes off victory in the final 250cc race ever held, at Valencia at the end of the 2009 season, and he moves up to MotoGP along with one of the most respected and impressive teams in the paddock. The Aspar team have utterly dominated both 125 and 250, and team boss Jorge Martinez has been angling to get into the MotoGP class for several years.

With Aspar running the team, the organizational side is solid. The rest is up to Barbera, and the Valencian could well turn a few heads. Previously known for his wild and positively hazardous passing maneuvers, Barbera mastered his intemperate nature in 2009, showing a cooler head and neither crashing nor taking other riders out nearly as often as in previous season. So far, Barbera has impressed aboard the Ducati, finishing up the order and usually ahead of his fellow rookies - the notable exception being Ben Spies.

While a victory in both his and the team's rookie season is extremely unlikely for Hector Barbera, the Pagina Amarillas (the Spanish Yellow Pages) rider is a prime candidate to cause an upset. When I expressed surprise at Barbera's strong showing on his debut on the Ducati at the post-race test at Valencia, one paddock wag remarked "he'll do fine on the Ducati. He doesn't have a brain..."

Star Turn

If Hector Barbera is the man most fans are likely to overlook - despite the garish yellow paint job on his Aspar Ducati - Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista arrive in MotoGP amid a blaze of publicity and attention. Simoncelli is adored in Italy, where he is being groomed as Valentino Rossi's replacement in publicity terms, while his archrival Alvaro Bautista was, until recently, hailed as Spain's next great hope at a title.

The price of being so heavily hyped is that it makes it that much harder to live up to expectations, however. Both Simoncelli and Bautista have had baptisms of fire on the entry into the MotoGP class. Simoncelli has struggled with the San Carlo Gresini Honda, finishing at or near the bottom of the timesheets at every test so far. Simoncelli's problems have confounded everyone, after his dazzling debut on the Aprilia RSV4 at Imola last year, but a V4 superbike is apparently a completely different kettle of fish to a V4 MotoGP bike, and the Fabulous Furry Freak Brother will have his work cut out this year just to avoid humiliation.

After a poor start, Alvaro Bautista's fortunes have looked up recently, as the performance of the new Suzuki GSV-R has picked up. The worry for Bautista is that the spec Bridgestones have a stiff construction and a soft compound, Bautista preferring a softer construction and a harder compound, a different approach at achieving a similar level of grip. The altered construction of the Dunlops last season was one of the reasons Bautista struggled on the Aspar Aprilia, failing to pick up the title he was so hotly tipped for. If he can learn to handle the Bridgestones, Bautista may regain some of the form he seemed to lose last year.

The Quiet Champion

The man that Bautista and Simoncelli lost the title to is another rider likely to surprise a good many people. Entering MotoGP as reigning - and last ever - 250 World Champion should mean you join the class in a hail of publicity, but that simply doesn't suit Hiroshi Aoyama's quiet and unassuming nature. Aoyama moves up to MotoGP with another new team, the Interwetten Honda team run by Daniel Epp's Paddock GP, the man behind the Caffe Latte effort in 250 and 125. Aoyama is lucky to even be in MotoGP, as Epp had originally intended to run his protege, former 125cc champion Thomas Luthi.

But Luthi disappointed in 250s in 2009, while Aoyama truly shined. The Japanese rider took his underpowered Honda RS250RW - a bike that was virtually unchanged since Andrea Dovizioso last rode it in 2007 - and squeezed every last drop of speed out of it, braking later and carrying more speed than Aoyama's opponents could handle. When I asked about the performance of that 250, Aoyama's crew chief Guido Cecchini was clear: "Hiro uses this bike more than 100%" he said. That extra is what won Aoyama his title.

His former crew chief also praised his set-up skills, something that the Interwetten Honda rider will need in MotoGP. Aoyama's methodical and patient way of working, along with his attention to detail, have seen the Japanese rider make slow but steady progress, creeping closer to the front in the same quiet, unassuming way that he won the 250 championship.

The Stage Is Set

Looking at the rookies in isolation, Ben Spies is almost certain to take the rookie of the year award, given his already strong start to the season. But though Barbera might score the odd surprise result, and Bautista perform better than might be expected, Hiroshi Aoyama is likely to be the best-of-the-rest rookie, sneaking up on the top 10 almost unnoticed. Aoyama and Spies are surprisingly alike, though in very different ways. Both are calm and focused, and they share a careful and thoughtful approach to racing. They are both modest, despite their achievements, more focused on what they have to learn than what they know already. Spies and Aoyama will be the rookies to watch in 2010.

The addition of Spies, Aoyama, Simoncelli, Bautista, Barbera and Espargaro to MotoGP make this the strongest field the series has seen in a long time. There may be only 17 permanent riders in the series, but 13 of those riders have a total of 27 world titles between them, in various classes. Even more significantly, with the arrival of the top rookies into MotoGP, the arguments over who deserves to be in the class and isn't there are more or less over. Though there is still plenty of talent left in World Superbikes and Moto2, there are very few, if any, riders who deserve to be in MotoGP over the riders already signed.

The field in MotoGP may be deep, from the front of the grid just about all the way to the rear, what makes the 2010 season special is the fact that the title race is so open, and almost impossible to predict. Valentino Rossi is close to confirming his status as the best motorcycle racer of all time, while both Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo are making him work harder to preserve that status than ever before. Even Dani Pedrosa cannot be written off yet: On his day, he can still beat Rossi, Stoner and Lorenzo with relative ease, and if Honda give him the bike he needs, his day may come more often. And Ben Spies may just turn out to be another alien, transforming the Fantastic Four into a Fantastic Five. As Mike Scott says, we truly are living in a Golden Age.

“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.” -- Niccolo Machiavelli

Max Biaggi is an enigma. The man they call the Roman Emperor is outwardly charming and friendly but is best known for his darker side -- a career punctuated by trackside punch-ups both public and private, a reputation of playing team politics for keeps and a proclivity to slag on his current employer in the press, an unfortunate trait that ultimately earned him the bum's rush out of the MotoGP Paddock. 

At age 38 and with a new baby, Mad Max may have mellowed a bit off the track, but the drive and talent that saw the Italian take four 250cc world championships and three runner-up positions in the premiere class hasn't abated noticeably.  With last year's move to Aprilia, Max gained a new lease on racing life on a machine that was widely regarded to have been designed, if not expressly for him, then with considerable imperial input. That lease was renewed yesterday with Biaggi's double win at Portimao, his first in WSBK and Aprilia's first since 2001, when Troy Corser did the deed at Valencia.

Last year's RSV4 was arguably the second biggest story in the WSBK paddock in 2009, and Noale looks to have improved the package for 2010. The knock against last year's machinery was that while the engine was among the most powerful on the grid, the handling, specifically getting the beast to turn, was not up to snuff.  Although Biaggi managed a win at Brno and eight lesser podium spots, getting the RSV4 to go where he pointed it was a struggle at times as evidenced by the sometimes wonky, oddball lines that he was forced to run.

All that seems to have improved in 2010. The power is still there, even without the use of the controversial gear-driven valvetrain, as evidenced by the ease by which the big V-4 pulled the GSXR1000 of Leon Haslam down the start/finish straight to turn one at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. What's new is the ability to get the Aprilia to go where the rider wants it to go. There were still moments where Biaggi ran wide or took a different line than the pack, but those could be ascribed to the ferocity of the battle at the front. Biaggi poo-pooed the idea that the prodigious power of the RSV4 was the determining factor in the double victory, citing instead the handling prowess that enabled him to get a drive off the last corner onto the home straight.

Both races were similar in beginning and end -- Biaggi got the holeshot at the start both times and battled tooth and nail, swapping leads with eventual second-place finisher Haslam most of the way to eventually take the win. The Pocket Rocket called his day "frustrating", citing a lack of grip from his Pirelli rear tire that kept him from that elusive "little extra" he needed to put Biaggi away.  Polesitter Cal Crutchlow  made a self-admiitted "stupid mistake" and crashed out of race one with three laps to go but atoned for his transgression in race two, holding off Althea Ducati's Carlos Checa to take the final step on the podium.

Going into the next round at Valencia, Haslam holds a 16 point advantage over Biaggi, a gap that is not nearly as comforting as it might seem, given the events that unfolded this weekend in Portugual. Biaggi reportedly has a series of four stars emblazoned on his leathers, supposedly standing for his four world championships, followed by a question mark that stands for the WSBK World Championship he'd like to attain this season. Although it's admittedly early days, if this weekend's racing was any indication, Biaggi's rivals for the championship will be forgiven for being afraid -- very afraid.