Despite the worries about shrinking grids, a lack of sponsors and disappearing manufacturers, as the ultimate prize in motorcycle racing, MotoGP remains a tempting prospect for manufacturers. Today, another manufacturer shocked the racing world, as Roberto Colaninno, CEO of the Piaggio Group, announced that Aprilia could return to MotoGP in the next 3 years.

Final MotoGP World Championship Standings After Round 18, Valencia, Spain:

Intermittent rain once again made testing difficult on the second and last day of the Le Mans post-race test. The difficult conditions made several teams decide to skip the test and go home early. This didn't stop times from being fast though, as several teams ran a series of race simulations. Valentino Rossi was fastest, and spent time testing revised chassis parts, as well as new engine parts, presumably in an attempt to increase the top end which Yamaha so sorely lacks. Dani Pedrosa was 2nd fastest, ahead of Toni Elias.

Toby Moody over on Autosport.com has revealed that John Hopkins is currently in talks with Kawasaki for the 2008 season. The American, currently with Suzuki, has, like many other riders, been impressed with the progress of the Kawasaki since the beginning of the season. The linkup also makes promotional sense, as Hopkins' personal sponsor, Monster Energy, currently supports the factory Kawasaki effort in the AMA, and the brand's logo is green, making for a very nice tie in with Kawasaki's corporate colors.

After Kenny Roberts Jr's strong showing in the latter half of the 2006 season, hopes were high that Team KR could be podium regulars in 2007, opening up a cheaper way for private teams to compete in MotoGP. But 2007 has not gotten off to the start which the team had hoped. To a large extent, this is unsurprising, as when Honda decided to change engine layout from a V5 to a V4, this affected not just HRC themselves, but also Team KR, who use the Honda powerplant as the basis of their KR212V bike.

Despite putting in a hard day's work yesterday, the MotoGP teams were out testing at Le Mans today. The track was damp, making testing difficult and leaving a lot of riders in the garage, especially after a shower made conditions worse. The weather finally got to playing ball, and by 4:30 the sun was out and the track began to properly dry.

Fate must be having a crackdown on hubris. Just as in Shanghai, where the predicted Ducati domination failed to materialize, Le Mans has once again proven the pundits to be quite wrong. Those who are supposed to know about these things had forecast that in France, the roles would be reversed, and the Yamahas would make all the running, with the Ducatis desperately trying to keep up, and not lose too much ground, and the Hondas struggling at the back. I was one of those voices, but today's thrilling qualifying has proved us all comprehensively wrong.

Fate must be having a crackdown on hubris. Just as in Shanghai, where the predicted Ducati domination failed to materialize, Le Mans has once again proven the pundits to be quite wrong. Those who are supposed to know about these things had forecast that in France, the roles would be reversed, and the Yamahas would make all the running, with the Ducatis desperately trying to keep up, and not lose too much ground, and the Hondas struggling at the back. I was one of those voices, but today's thrilling qualifying has proved us all comprehensively wrong.

The second free practice session at Le Mans this afternoon was marked by changeable weather conditions, sunshine alternating with cloud, with a light drizzle finally putting paid to any further practice with some 10 minutes to go. But before rain put a damper on things, the session saw a resurgence of Honda, with Gresini's Marco Melandri topping the timesheets, ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Carlos Checa.