Qatar MotoGP

Good evening. The long pre-season is over. The moment of truth is

here as MotoGP enters 1 now cc era in Qatar under the lights. They

will hit your screens in HD on the BBC this season. There are plenty

of new things to look out for. will be a momentous year for MotoGP.

The biggest changes since the four stroke category was invented. We

will go back from the 800 cc machines up to 1,000 cc. On top of

that, we have a whole new class for non-factory machines. That will

boost the grid to more than 20 bikes. Some things don't change

though. Casey Stoner has been topping the time sheets in pre-

season testing. Back on 1,000s, it's fun. Just the fact they have

that much talk and traction. They want to rip you off the back a

little bit. Your arms take more of a beating than normal. The rest of

me feels comfortable. Here's Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa hasn't been

har behind. His title challenges over the last few years have been

hampered by injury. Stoner's other rival will be Jorge Lorenzo. He

feels his Yamaha team have got close to the gap with the Honda.

would like to be more competitive this year. Compared to last year, I

think we have good acceleration and power. Ben Spies lines up against

Lorenzo on the factory Yamaha. His experience riding the 1,000s in

World Superbikes has helped him adapt. He could be a contender.

Having the power will allow me to ride more of my old-style. We are

here to win the Championship, whether we are favourite or not, it

doesn't matter. We come to race. That is why I ride forum yam. That

is the goal. Will Rossi and the Ducati be competitive this year?

Pre-season testing say, well, not yet. We are in sixth position. I

think this is our potential now. I think we can improve the Ducati

during the season. For Qatar, I think for the first three races

it's like this. At Tech 3 it will be interesting to see how Dani

Pedrosa gets off. We know that British Moto2 star

Bradley Smith has been promised one of these rides leaving one Tech 3

seats left. Crutchlow had an up- and-down season last year. The

biggest down came at his home Grand Prix. I can't wait to get back to

my home crowd, Silverstone. It's a great place. The new wing, I never

got to ride out of the garage last year. I plan on doing that and

making the fans proud hopefully and see what we can do. Other riders

settling in new Alvaro Bautista and Hector Barbera and Stefan Bradl

riding the LCR Honda. Karel Abraham is on the Ducati. Then the new

teams. In Colin Edwards they have one of the most experienced guys in

the paddock embracing their cause. Look at Moto2 and how good it has

become. We are moulding the big boy class around that. Don't expect to

see them on the podium any time soon. It's very much work in

progress. 2011 will always be remembered for the tragic loss of

rising star Marco sim on celly. His team blacks are running in black as

a lack of respect. His big smile and even bigger hair are going to

be missed in this paddock. No doubt the biggest change for 2012 is one

that nobody wanted. His absence is being fement in weekend. This

season is the six nth a row to get started here in Qatar. The fifth

under the lights. It's an 18 round Championship. We have got a couple

of weeks off now until the next one It's rerentless until November. The

British Grand Prix is Round 6, it's a couple of months' away. You might

want to get your tickets, if you haven't done already. It looks like

the winter has been kind to our commentary team of Steve Parrish

and Charlie Cox. Plenty for you to get your teeth into this season?

Two class of racing, that will be something to watch and pressure for

Casey Stoner. We are liking that as well. I'm excited about the whole

season. It's all happening here right at the front and with the CRT

bikes. A fantastic start for British fans. Cal Crutchlow has

qualified on the front row of the grid for tonight's race. First

front row for any British rider since James Toseland. What a way to

start the year? We were busting to talk about it. Fantastic. We know

that he has been on the pace in the pre-season and all this weekend he

has been on the pace as well, out near the front, second fastest in

the practice. It isn't a fluke. He has a serious pace. He is like the

real deal He is comfortable in the paddock. Last year he got sorted

out. You know where everything. Is he seems comfortable. You know all

about that? I have a lot of holidays, don't I? He was chuffed

with that performance last night. He spoke to us after qualifying he

was keeping his feet very much on the ground. I'm happy. What can I

say? We came to the first race, a lot of people wrote me off. I

proved people wrong. We are at the first Round. It's qualifying races

tomorrow. If I can get out of here with a half decent result I will be

happy. Just because we are on the front row it doesn't mean we will

be on the podium. I will be trying. An outside chance of a podium, but

a chance never the less? He is third quickest now, second quickest.

He has to keep it neat. There is extra pressure, isn't there, when

had you a belting qualifier. It's easier to make a mistake. He has to

be cool and play his game. Nobody knows how to manage the tyres with

the 1,000s. It's an awkward circuit. It's on outside possibility. If he

is not listening I hope he does. Let's wish him the best. It was

2000 when Jeremy McWilliams was on the grid. Far too longer. Longer

since the British winner in the '70s, Barry Sheen. The two boys at

the front it seems in a class of their own at the moment? They do.

Casey Stoner has been the talk of the offseason. He was talk of the

first half of this weekend as well. Jorge Lorenzo started to put

pressure on him. Stoner started to find problems. The bike started

great, it is now rubbish. He looked all right in the warmup, but we

don't know. Jorge Lorenzo looking slick? He looked comfortable

throughout the testing. He looks within himself. It's 22 laps.

Around Lap 15 we will find out who wins the race. Who has the tyre.

Dani Pedrosa is always in the hunt? He was second fastest in warmup.

Seventh on the grid. When we look Seventh on the grid. When we look

at the grid Dani in seventh and Valentino Rossi in 12th? I want him

to be up there, he was so good for our sport. They can't sort the bike

out. I have never seen him look so out. I have never seen him look so

off of it. The boss said, we are going three different ways, Nicky

is going one, and volume teen owe is going another way. Colin, the

fastest of them, 8th tenths of a second behind Valentino Rossi?

pleased about that. I'm pleased for Colin. That BMW engine and chassi

seems to be working. Cheaper to buy and cheaper to fix. There were a

few crashs in qualifying when the guys were pushing for times? Eem'

too old. He will have to answer for me. He can't hear a thing. Big

crashes, turn 13 they seemed to be turning off. Those teams can well

afford not doing that. Jorge Lorenzo getting ready to go out. He

lines up ahead of Casey Stoner. Casey on the front row as well, not

happy with the performance of his Honda after qualifying. Fair race

pace for tomorrow, it's difficult because the huge issues we had on

Thursday have now come full circle and come back to us now. My team

aren't taking enough importance on how big the situation is. They are

like, "you are fast, you can to it anyway". I can't. It's not feels --

feeling nice. If we can't fix it before tomorrow it will be very

tough. It will be a lot of hard work. Life is not all bad when you

COMMENTATOR: Casey Stoner is the world champion. A fifth straight

home Grand Prix win clinched a second title on his 26th birthday.

I don't think too many people can win a World Championship on their

birthday. I wasn't happy about my birthday being on that day.

Everyone is screaming out, "happy birthday" I don't like birthdays at

the best of times, it's more attention. I don't want. It Philip

Island was an amazing day. We won the world Championship on my

birthday with five wins in a row and a home Grand Prix was special.

This was the culmination of years of sacrifice for the Stoner family.

He was put on a motorcycle at the age of three.Ual I wanted to do was

ride, ride, ride. I didn't even know what racing was when dad went

and put me in on it. I'm also pretty competitive, I think, from

when I was very young. It was the perfect thing. I love riding bikes,

I'm competitive. Why not go race. The family sold up and nofd Europe

with nothing between them but a British passport and a plane. His

raw talent propelled him through the British, Spanish and World

Championship classes saeling a ride with Honda in 2006 and scoring

podiums in his first season. That didn't persuade them to give him a

factory bike. Ducati gave them the plunge. I wanted to get on the

podiums but get in front of the manufacturerers who kicked me out,

turned me down and show them what I Let's not get too happy with where

we are now. Let's be realistic. The competition levels that we are

racing against, I am pretty sure they will chase down and

steamroller us basically, but we thought we would take it race by

race, and that is the way I like to race. We just enjoy each moment,

and then the race wins kept coming and so did the championship points

and we racked up the championship comfortably. It was a fantastic

season for us. Still the doubters were not convinced, crating his

success to that supposedly straight like Speen of the Ducati. His ill-

health held the rumour-mongers further, and he managed to be cut

those wins, a feat still not managed even by Valentino Rossi. He

managed the Dream Factory ride with Honda in 2011, 12 holes, 10

victories and a second title. 2012 has already been a year to remember.

In February, his wife gave birth to a baby girl. It was fantastic. The

last two or three weeks has been a really nice ride to watch her

growing up, and it is her eyesight coming a bit further so she notices

you a bit further away and she was smiling at four weeks old. You do

not realise the feeling it gives you until I am watching the videos

on my five of her smiling and the sensation it gives you is something

really special. -- videos on my phone. I am lucky to be a father to

Nice to see Casey Stoner enjoying fatherhood, but Jorge Lorenzo has

no time for that kind of thing. He is desperate to win back the title

he worked so hard to win in 2010. I have his team manager here. How we

see adapting to Losail, of Bisley quite well because he is on pole,

but how does he feel? He is always red-headed, but after his 20 10th

championship, he knows he can do it. Last year we struggled quite a bit

but the winter tests went really good and qualifying went good.

Circumstances changing every day. Less grip, so completely changing.

Let's see after 22 laps how the situation will be. It will be an

interesting race tonight, but I want to get your perspective from

the Yamaha factory pointed the with the new regulations coming in? The

was very important to have more riders on the grid. So the

manufacturers could not supply them because it is a lot of money

involved. I think it is not ideal, but it is a way to start and let's

say after this year how it will continue. Good luck tonight. That

is the factory point of view, but let's have a look at the proper

grip walk. Unfortunately they are all at the back. We do have 21

riders on the grid, a B-grade and that sold some of the problems we

had last year. Here he has, making his debut tonight. A chap you might

remember from the British Superbike Championship. He won it in 2005. We

will grab a quick word with him. Gregorian -- Gregorian oh, you are

probably the best qualified man to talk about CTR racing and you were

heavily involved in the Avintia Blusens project. How is it going?

It is a lot of work but we are getting better and better. The CRT

project, we made the engines at home and we just brought in the

chassis, and to build everything and be competitive is not easy but

we are making progress every time, so we are quite happy. What do you

think about the concept in general? Is this the future of grand prix

racing? First of all it is not easy to do it CTR bike, but it is much

more affordable than a proper MotoGP bike. Said a Downing on the

rules and the direction they take to save this will be the future, I

don't know, but the gap to the top bikes is not so big and I can tell

you that the Budget is a big difference on that. Good luck with

the project and good luck tonight. A mixture of bikes and budgets on

the grid for the foreseeable future. And probably for next season as

well. But what is the long term future? And the factories are in

agreement that CRT is something that needed to happen. The worries

about the future regulations coming in are strong. It has been proposed

that single speck electronics, lower rev limits or one million

euros price cap on least bikes. What we likely to see for the Euro

-- new rules coming in? It has been an important step for the future of

the championship. It has been working well since now in racing,

and it almost started three months ago, and the result has been better

and better. It is a demonstration with this kind of bike that those

are less expensive than the others but you can have a fantastic

machine. This is the idea and we will try to continue in this way.

With 21 bikes and new manufacturers on the grid to do you feel that the

CRT decision has been vindicated? Yes, and with the cost of the CRT,

you can have two bikes instead of one and this has opened up

possibilities in any case. But we are thinking we can try to

accommodate more and reduce the gap, because that will reduce the gap

between them and the factory bikes. But in any case if we are helping

in that way it will be very good Lots of work to be done, and it

seems as though the story will be evolving over the course of the

season and the next and will keep you up-to-date -- up to date. What

a pleasure to be alongside Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner to speak

to Cal Crutchlow for the first time. Get out of the way, you! Just

chatting to his team manager. Sorry to interrupt you, chaps. Cal

Crutchlow, had you feel? Front-row starter the first time and 22 1/2

laps or her head. I was feeling great until the crushed my earplug.

If we can get a good starting get away, we can see what we will do.

It will be a tough battle from third up to 7th. I will just try my

best, it's all I can do. But no, nice to be a peer. We have done a

good enough job and I will see what I can do. Am I allowed to swear?

Better not. Maybe if you win. just wanted to point out about your

green trousers. Yes, definitely not then. You had a warm-up earlier

deceiving. Any last minute changes? We had a problem with the bike in

the warm-up. The chain was jumping the sprocket, but we will see.

Hopefully it didn't happen in the race. It happened to Andrea

yesterday, but hopefully not for me. A everybody behind your back home.

All the best. Let's go down to the second row. Just behind him and

shelling out -- checking out my trousers with a jealous look, heres

Nicky. I can see you checking out my trousers, you are jealous.

get them for one night? We will see how the race goes. You're obviously

easily the fastest Ducati any seem to be going in the right direction

with the new bike. It has not been spectacular, but we are getting

closer every session and the team has worked so hard. These guys

deserve a result tonight. I think we can do a good race and when the

lights go out, if it is just talk or write and make it happen. I know

it is difficult to describe the differences but your team mates are

struggling on what is essentially the same bike. But you're going in

different ways of with the set-up. He tried my set up this morning and

liked it, so that is positive for me and the team. It shows that

those guys are listening to the information I give and going in a

good way. We missed a lot of testing with all my injuries and

got a bit behind, but we have now made some progress and tonight is

my 10th year in MotoGP and I love it, man. I am more excited than

ever. I am just ready to see the light go out and see what we've got.

Here is to the next 10 years. Thanks, Nicky. All the best. We

will see about the trousers afterwards. They are in demand,

what can I say? Who else can we chat to? Let's see if we can have a

quick word with Stefan Bradl. No, it is his rocky performance, but

let's have a look. Great to have a German back on the grid. The first

German since 2007, which was Alex Hoffman, who is somewhere working

for German television. The motor to world champion making his debut. A

third row start, in 9th place, and the third highest Honda so he is

ahead of Alvaro Bautista. Let's see who we can find. Quite busy.

Probably more people on the grid than the grandstand. There is Karel

Abraham. Second season of MotoGP for him and enjoying life on the

Ducati. One guy not enjoying life on the 1,000 cc Ducati is Valentino

Rossi. Let's see if we can gravel work with someone from Ducati. I

think he is crouching on the other side of the bike. We can grab a

word with Jerry. I have not seen you this week yet, Jerry. I guess

you have been locked up in the garage will be ours. We have been

doing a bit because it didn't go well for us. We have to make the

most bitter and move forward. had a quick chat with Nicky Hayden

and he has had more success with the bike this weekend. By you going

that way with the set-up for Valentino? You s, very similar and

they have been similar all weekend but just different in the height --

yes. We are just going to make a better job of this hopefully than

the qualification. Not for me to say, but you can do much worse.

Good on you! -- you could not do much worse. Valentino last year

almost at the lap race into the first corner. -- almost took the

lead in the race at the first corner. Let's have a chat with

James Allison before we have to run away from the grid. -- James

Ellison. James, how are you feeling? Back of the grid, a big

project ahead. We are at the back? I thought it was the front! Oh well.

We have had a fair share of hard work and all the boys have been

pushing hard behind me. We just have not shown our true potential

and hopefully in the race we can do it justice and show what we can do.

I will be trying hard anyway. miles to show your potential

afterwards. Testing at the minute, so we will see. We really are

getting thrown off now. Let's talk to this man on that way back. Randy,

you can keep me company. A really exciting night for MotoGP. We used

to be neighbours back in Spain, myself and randy, and he used to

bang on about how MotoGP needed to change because outcome of a clear

was not a viable sport. Is this the way you wanted it to go? --

economically it was not a viable sport. I have been here for 35

years, believe it or not. I saw the side cars disappearing, but what

needed to change was something and I think they came up with the other

organisations, but CRT is a new park. I think we have to be patient.

If you look at the teams we have to be interviewing, they are great-

looking teams. There is a lot at stake out there. Don't forget the

prototype bikes are producing 250 horsepower. Speeds of 340

kilometres per hour. If you ask anyone at the back do they want to

be here, they would will say yes. They would rather be at the front

though. A big gap, six seconds from James Ellison took the pole and

they may get lapped, but what about the battle at the front with the

factory bikes? It is good to see that there is a great life

competition happening again, especially between Yamaha and Honda.

especially between Yamaha and Honda. Casey Stoner was so dominant

winning 10 grant freeze. For then of course you have Ben Spies. And

then Nicky Hayden, you cannot count him out. He looks good on the bike.

And he is out shadowing Valentino Rossi. The facts for talking to us,

Randy. -- thanks for talking to us. seemed to affect his qualifying, so

he might get there or there abouts. Yes, warm up this morning, second

fastest. A little bit behind. Warmup is what we will see than the

qualifying was. We are in for a cracker. As we keep talking we have

the factory bikes out there. 12 of those out there. Then the CRT bikes.

It will be a great race between, Randy De Puniet Colin Edwards and

the CETs. Will Cal Crutchlow go, stay in touch, even if he is

knocked off. If anything we are optimistic about that. You can't

say too much about him. Absolutely. Turn 4, 5. Down to the tightest

corner on the circuit Turn 6. Some of the guys using first gear. The

only corner you would use first gear around this track it's a

different track. Technical aspects about it. We come up to the section

where we saw a few crashes. That is where Dani Pedrosa crashed.

Incredible number of crashes. One of the issues is you get a

different circuit every time you go out of here. Can you answer the

question? The sand on the track and everything else. Turn 13, further

round, you have 12, 13 and 14. Hopefully you will get around there.

We saw 120mph, third gear corner, we saw a number of bikes going down.

Ben Spies being one of them. have them there now. 12, 13, 14,

right hand side of your picture. 15 coming up, 16 the final corner. 1:

55.1.5 is the lap record. 3.3 miles round. The straight is one

kilometre long. 210mph these guys are doing down there. Welcome back

1000, that is all I can say? agree. They have a lot out there.

They won't have more horsepower in third, second or fourth gear, the

two top gears they keep pulling. They do keep going. So does this

guy, Lorenzo, pole position, next to him Stoner, next to him Cal

Crutchlow. Toselan d was on the front row in 20008. Cal Crutchlow

is on the inside for Turn 16789 he will want to get away with the

front two. This is the first time he ever started from the front much

he has to look at those lights, there is no-one else to look at.

Lorenzo, Stoner in the middle, Crutchlow on the left. Hayden in

the middle behind them. We are ready for a start. They are away.

Good-looking jump there from Lorenzo on the right hand side.

Look, No 28, Dani Pedrosa coming through. He smoked them. Lorenzo

will carry the speed around the outside. Yes, yes he does. That's

going to give Ben Spies the squeeze. Lorenzo is through. Pedrosa mugs

his team-mate. Dani Pedrosa into second place. There he was on the

grid in... Way back down. Third row. Outstanding. We waited for a while

to see a field that big. They are absolutely on. It ducking and

weaving all over the shop. A little bit of a shuffle, not too critical.

Not a disaster. Dovizioso is in front of him. He will have to get

his head down and sort it out in the first few corners if he can.

Spies in front of him. Hayden made not a bad start. That is good.

Crutchlow didn't get off. I don't know what happened to him into 7

turn 1. No 26, Dani Pedrosa, third row of the grid. Fast in the warmup,

he has the pace. Lorenzo is away. That is pleasing for him that Dani

Pedrosa, Casey Stoner is his biggest threat. It's great for

Stoner. While his team-mate is in front the guy who can get nearest

to him, Lorenzo, is clearing off in the distance. Spies in fourth place,

then Crutchlow. Nicky Hayden, that is moment there as through he goes.

Nice work there from Dovizioso. He run wide. That is good from

Dovizioso. He was on sixth position, second row of the grid. Look at

that lead he has, as they go over there by Stefan Bradl. We haven't

talked much about him. Look at Valentino Rossi. He took out two

scalps in one right hander. He is right behind Bautista and one spot

behind his team-mate, Nicky Hayden. Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner

champing at the bit, but his buddy in the way. I can't believe that

start from Pedrosa. How does he do it? We know he is light. You have

to nail it right. He is able to do that. He has a launch chip. Someone

put one. In you are riding with him now. Stoner. Yeah, but you are

chasing. No 1, Casey Stoner is there. Ten race wins. He nailed

last year, the best of the rest was three from Jorge Lorenzo and three

for Dani Pedrosa. Not easy to pass around this track. Turn 1 is the

favourite. 22 laps. We have got a long way to go here. What a sweet

sound, listen to that. Oh!, are we through? Not quite. Close enough,

Cal Crutchlow having his own battle with his team-mate, Andrea

Dovizioso. This will be getting frustrating for Casey Stoner

because he wants to get through. The trouble with Turn 1 you have a

kilometer straight where Dani Pedrosa is on the fastest bike. We

will find out about the speed. Here we come shorltly on to that long

straight. -- shortly on to that long straight. One of the things

that Pedrosa has been working so hard on, as he moves to the inside,

making it as hard as he can for the Australian, now Stoner is trying to

punch a hole through. Can he take two in one? No, he doesn't. He

passed Pedrosa. Pedrosa worked hard on braking, it wasn't enough.

Stoner up into second place. There is the man he is chaising,

Dovizioso. Crutchlow having a great line. Valentino Rossi up behind

Bautista. He is the only right rider in the factory bikes who has

gone for the softer tyre. Rossi is up into tenth. That last lap around,

Lorenzo, Pedrosa then Stoner all set fastest laps. What has Jorge

Lorenzo got? I reckon Lap 15 we will find out who the winner is

because it will be who has the tyre left. 22 laps around here is hard

work. Lovely temperature out there. Dryer this year. A lot less windy.

We had monster breezes across the weekend. We had two races to clean

up the race line. There are so many marbles on the outside of the track.

He is on the inside Stoner. That would of been brave through there.

That was close, as you like. Once again, Steve, a lot of marbles on

this track. You go wide, it's all over. Marbles being tyre that are

laying on the side of the track which are shredded from the

Bridgestone tyres. When you run off wide have you to be careful, you

can't brake hard or get on the throttle. Take a look at Crutchlow.

Listen to these 1000. Crutchlow is all over the back of Dovizioso. He

is not playing leapfrog, he means it. Getting to the inside. He got

out of that corner really well. Can Lorenzo get it back again?

Pedrosa is having a sniff. Can he get it? The Honda has had the speed

all weekend. The Yamaha runs wide. He went in there too hot. All

weekend the Yamaha has been 10k slower. This was the deal last year

with the Honda, exactly the same. The Yamaha is a great package, it

handles really good and tidy and smooth in the corners. Stefan Bradl

is having a great ride. Ben Spies having a shocker, he is back in

seventh. He is struggle. -- struggling. He had a couple of

crashes. What he will be carry something a lack of confidence. Two

crashes here. He didn't know what happened in either of them.

Crutchlow having a great ride there in fifth position. Best result he

has had so far has been a fourth in Valencia last year. That crash-

strewn race. There he said he wanted to get in the top six, a

long way to go yet. He is in front of Ben Spies. There is Ben Spies,

the bookies had him at 14-1. It looked like a good bet, not a

chance now. He is lapping a second of a lap slower. He is in big

trouble. Stoner was the man that we thought had the pace. Has he got

the chatter? Clearly not at the moment. They struggled all weekend.

He struggled with the softer tyre with fallifying. -- qualifying.

It's a strange circuit. Not always the track that shows the form for

the year. Crutchlow will be pleased if he can squeeze down the inside.

Can he do it. It's his team-mate. Look at those disks glowing there!

Those brakes are working so hard. That is interesting, Crutchlow's

were hotter and redder than his team mate's Andrea Dovizioso.

Carbon pad, carbon material, very hi-tech and expensive. They are

�3,000 a disc. They have to be matched to the pads. You have sets

and sets... He is being held up by his team-mate. It looks as though

Dovi is in Cal Crutchlow's way. That is Dovi's job to hold him back.

One of the wierd things about riding around here is the shadows.

You see the shadow from the bike. Valentino Rossi not going good in

tenth place. He has a problem there. Something really wrong there.

Barbera has gone past. He's run wide. He has a problem. We cut to

him there. That has been costly for him. Let's have a recap. There is

your top ten: Valentino Rossi is back in 12th place. He lost two

places. Back to the shadows. When you come here and ride out and you

think someone is going to pass you, it's your own shadow. I have always

been frightened of my shadow anyway! At least you've got one!

Down the pit-straight. Stoner is in the lead. He is still pressing on.

Lorenzo is clawing back. Here we go. Crutchlow with the green helmet,

his team-mate in the red. You are right... Much harder on the brakes,

it seems, than Dovizioso, which is ridiculous. There is something

different about their braking pattern. Stefan Bradl. Nice to have

a German here riding good. That is the LCR machine. A satellite bike.

Not the full factory effort. Still a cracking machine. At the start of

the year the satellite bikes are similar to the factory ones because

the development hasn't occurred. The difference between a satellite

bike and this extra class. factory bikes which you couldn't

buy with all the nun China. They are hand built machines, bespoke

for the factory riders. Satellite machines which Honda, Yamaha and

Ducati go. You can lease for $4 million a year, something like that.

You only get to borrow them for that. The CRTs. They are about 1.2

million euro as pair. You do get to keep them. There could be some

second hand at the end of the year. This is an interesting case in

point. That is Alvaro Bautista. James Ellison having a moment of

some description. Those discs thing about the circuit it is very

safe. Will he stop before the gravel? Yes, fortunately for him.

The point about Bautista or is that he does have eight working speck

satellite bike. It is quite a weird one. It was a bite -- bike destined

for Marco Simoncelli, of course. Dovizioso is keeping Cal Crutchlow

very honest. Giving each other the race laps, he is only about three

seconds behind Valentino. He is lapping about three-tenths of a

second slower. Colin Edwards riding on the BMW engine, and they have

been harder work sorting out the bike, trying to get the electronics

worked out. Casey Stoner still leading but the gap is not moving

immensely. Danny Pedro's is keeping Jorge Lorenzo on Istin said -- Dani

Pedrosa is keeping Jorge Lorenzo on us. -- honest. It has all been

pretty tight, the same as the warm- up. Casey Stoner does always grab a

bit more curve than anyone else, particularly on the inside of the

track. He nails it over the top. It is interesting to watch him. And

Karel Abraham is pulling in. A technical problem for No. 17, the

Czech rider. That is unusual. Not what you need on your debut.

Add anything that is his sister, she looks to Keane, Ince is Godman

-- I don't think that is his sister. She looks too keen, it is his

Rossi has been alienated. You have been working on that all weekend.

He looked good off the curve... A unfortunately Dovizioso is very

late on the brakes, so you will have to think about another part of

the track. Come back, come on! Nothing against Dovizioso but we do

want Cal Crutchlow. This is the BBC, we are partisan in an impartial way.

The owner always going to be a bit tense in this situation. The if

that was anybody but his team mate, he would have really muscled him

wide. All he can do is hope Dovizioso can make a mistake or

something. He is definitely held up in the middle of the corners. It is

very frustrating. I have been in the situation where someone is

blocking the corner right in the middle and we say motor cycles are

not wide, but there is only one optimum line and it is a couple of

inches off that. That is another one. The team-mate of Alvaro

Bautista or, a real shame. We thought he would have a better run

than that, Pirro, but he's in. Again, a lot of these teams are

just sorting things out at the moment. Look at this. Heres where

he could have done it, maybe. Not there. He just ran a bit wide.

a metre wide of Dovizioso, and it's a bit like riding a damp track. You

just after a stay on the line. Passing is extremely difficult. --

have to stay on the line. A moment thought on his own for Cal

Crutchlow, but he has kept it on the black. Those guys are adrift of

the leaders by four seconds but a comfortable gap until the next guy

but so they can sort it out between themselves. That is what you 0.5

seconds looks like. -- 2.5 seconds. debut to be in the top seven in

MotoGP. Looking at the lap times, he is closing down Hector Barbera.

It shows how hard Valentino Rossi is pushing. Nobody is a bigger fan

of Valentino Rossi than me, but it is sad to see him not jelling with

the bike. Meanwhile you have to say Nicky Hayden is doing well with the

Ducati in front of him. Alvaro Bautista riding a bike that would

have been ridden by Marco Simoncelli. Right behind him, Nicky

Hayden, who will be frustrated because he is behind where he

qualified. He qualified in 5th and is back in 8th. The different

characteristics of the by, not suiting him. We see a crestfallen

Karel Abraham. A very handy rider. His front brake is on, and that is

what he was indicating that. Nicky Hayden is past Bautista, so that is

up to 7th. Karel Abraham, the youngest rider in the field, at 22,

retires but I think that was a front brake problem. I am sure we

will get the knowledge on that in a minute. His father to the left.

What is the lip reading telling us? Front brake. That is the battle for

second. The second Ducati out there. He is absolutely as close as you

like to Bautista and Nicky Hayden who are tripping each other a bit.

There are the Pramac always, they are busy doing this, and also

running the lights round the circuit so their hands are full.

He's about to get past by Valentino Rossi, so he has major issues.

had a huge crash in practice and hurt his neck. You did not fiddle

with anything outside the garage? Don't be stupid, that would be a

good luck charm. Valentino Rossi is closing him down. That is the

battle for 10th place. This is the battle for the lead and it is not

much of a battle. Casey Stoner has 1.7 seconds back to Lorenzo and 13

laps to go. Valentino Rossi just doing his fastest lap of the race,

57.1, but the same as Hector Barbera. Stonor's last lap was 55.9.

That is the problem that the Ducati team have. And Nicky Hayden's last

lap was 57.7. So, slower than Valentino Rossi. So, it is the bike,

guys. We ride with Valentino Rossi. You can get the shot of the gears

and everything going on on that digital dashboard. All you ever

really look at is the shift like when you change gear. On the Yamaha,

then the Honda, then down the track there is Cal Crutchlow, still

chasing doggedly. Here they come again. He has tried that so many

times. He just hasn't quite cracked it. It is a difficult place to pass,

when you are chasing into the corner. We had a word up from the

pits, confirming it was the front brake off No. 17, Karel Abraham.

See, I am good at lip-reading. are good. Colin Edwards having a

belting run. Hernandez. He is having a good run. Behind him is

Randy de Puniet, who we all know and love. A, what a movement!

really riding the wheels off that, Yonny Hernandez. His Ford keeps

coming off the rest, so I don't know if he has an issue there.

fidgets. He's very Kumble -- colourful, Yonny Hernandez. There

will be little races all away through the field, which is

fantastic. Hernandez trying to fight back. Randy de Puniet having

a good run. Yes, coming back, after that massive crash last night. They

have fixed the by Cup. A pretty expensive crash, but he has gone

through -- they fixed the bike up. Colin Edwards a bit further down

the road is leading him. About five seconds down the road but we will

find out if he closes in in. We are riding with Cal Crutchlow. He is

through, surely! No. A good scrap though. Neat stuff. Let's try this

again. We have had 11 goes at it, so let's have another. The crowd

shouting. An enormous amount of English people and he's on the

inside, but can't quite do it. The front brakes working them heart,

trailing them in nicely. -- working them hard. A huge amount of British

fans in this weekend. If Stefan Bradl are behind them starts to

give them any encouragement he will be more motivated again. He will

not want to get Monster by Stefan Bradl. Carl Crutchlow's that shaped

his moustache off -- Cal Crutchlow shaved his moustache off because he

had a bet saying that if he got on the front row of the grid he would

do it. He does look younger as well. There is the master. Casey Stoner

is running in around 56. He is dropping back because he can.

not giving himself an easier time. It has not slowed him up, having

children, that is for certain. I spoke to him yesterday and may save

you get married you get slower, you have children, you get slower and

his answer was, I think that was back in the days when it was a bit

more dangerous. It's not like as dangerous as it was in the olden

days, meaning my days! But it is true. It is not as dangerous as it

used to be and it certainly hasn't slowed him up. Hang on a minute.

This is the part of the circuit where Crutchlow is really need. --

coming wide on that bit of the circuit. Do you think it is slowing

him down on the straight? Easy drifting too early? -- easy

drifting too early? His girlfriend willing him to get through. If he

does not, he will be in a bad mood, and she will pay for it.A bad mood

when you cannot get pass someone in the car, so goodness knows what it

will be like if he cannot slip through. It was all down to the

first or second corner shuffle. said earlier on that Bautista, non-

-- No. 19, he has gone for a softer rear tyre than anyone else.

Interesting to see if that does come off. We have had 13 out of 22

laps. A good run from Hector Barbera. He's only got one bike

Nicky Hayden pressing on. I reckon he is in the wake of Bautista

little bit. The trio is compressing. Yes, the only good thing for Nicky

is that he has had the speed through the weekend and has plenty

of top end when they will get to the end of the straight. Barbera

did a third 340 case. This will be where he got past him. Pretty neat.

He nails the apex. Job done. A lovely blocked pass. Nice, tidy,

straight faster than at any time across the weekend. 340 is really

getting a read on. 230 in old money. If you're on a motorcycle going

over 230 mph, you have to hang on, believe me. It is extraordinary,

the force of the wind. If you are not holding on to the handlebars

you can fly off like you are on a parachute. That is the battle at

the front, and that is the gap. It is easy in are a little bit, you

know. In fact, Lorenzo took half a second bout of Casey Stoner on the

last laugh. -- half a second out of Casey Stoner on the last lap.

reckon we are in the tyres own. -- zone. Has the Yamaha dollars

degradation than the Honda? Remember last year he was leading

and the tyres came off. 1.6, that is where the gaps started, but over

a lap ago it was two seconds. Let's monitoring closely. Casey Stoner

responding a little on sector three per we are talking tens of seconds.

It is so important to have a lot of tyre when you have 240 brake horse

power on the track with a piece of a tyre about the size of the palm

of your hand. If it goes off, egos of big style. It overheats and then

the whole thing gets worse and nice gap. When it Gus plus 1, you

you are know you are in serious trouble. You can see, the control

that we talk about. The rider being balanced. He threw himself to the

inside of the bike to get the bike stood up. Stoner is a specialist at

this track. He stacked together a bunch of wins. Came here in 2005

and fut on pole. 2006. 2006. On a satellite Honda. Rossi is good

around here. He has a good wining record. Jorge Lorenzo has never won

here in the premier class. Stefan Bradl is coming under pressure now.

Nicky Hayden closed down Stefan Bradl. Hayden has put in the faster

lap. The Ducati is coming back to him. Worn tyres can bring the bike

back to you. Bradl is new to this cls. He is the reigning Moto2 world

champion. It take as while, doesn't it, to learn how to get everything

out of the machine when you are learning a new machine. There is a

lot to learn in making it last the distance. You never really earn it

in testing. When you come to a race like this it's more valuable. You

get to know what is going on with the bike. Tyre wear and all this

type of thing. He is calculating this as he is going around, trying

to cling on to the 240 horse brake power... The other key point is

that people are getting in your way when you are racing, not when you

Head under neath the screen. It's extraordinary. These guys are all

absolute athletes. I've seen them in the gym every morning. You were

not there. I didn't feel the need much I looked at myself and thought,

"job done". What mirror are you using? All bought and paid for,

with you to train but he felt riding these was the best training

he could get. That gap is 1: 8 at the front. Pedrosa is not bothering

Lorenzo. He is keeping him very honest. The gap is around half a

second. I would of said the Yamaha, watching it all weekend, the Yamaha

is the smoothest and will probably be the best, or least worn tyres.

That is my feeling watching Jorge Lorenzo, who is probably one of the

smoothest riders we are going to see. We are now into tyre time. He

will want to see that Honda coming back to him. His last lap was a

tenth faster the last time around, Jorge Lorenzo. Casey Stoner many

things, not easy on his bike. He gets 11th tenths out of it. Check

that gap. 1: 887 last time. 1: 5. OK. We have a race on. 17: 2 2.

can do themath. That is do-able. The battle for fourth, it's still

going on. The two black bikes, trying to find the long way round.

He can't get to the inside on time. Bradl now has plenty of attention.

Bradl, right behind him the Ducati of Nicky Hayden then Bautista then

Honda, Ducati. That's as close as you like. Honda, Ducati. That is a

neat should havele. A great effort there from Stefan Bradl on his

first ever MotoGP. Moto2 World Champion. 22 years old. A daunting

prospect. He will be hearing that Ducati... Look at this! Job done.

Cal Crutchlow, as soon as you look away this happens. I'm sure we will

get a re-play. He is through. Crutchlow is through. Great news.

Let's see what Cal Crutchlow can do. It looked like he was being held up.

Andrea Dovizioso is a smaller Cal. He is late on the brakes. Look at

this, sorry to interrupt. Bautista has been mugged, the two Spaniards

Stefan Bradl trying to keep away Nicky Hayden. 1: 1. All of a sudden.

The big pressure is Pedrosa really starting to muscle Lorenzo. The gap

at the front has fallen apart. has. It was down to a second. Even

closer. Here we go. Has Stoner cooked those tyres. They are all

the same. It's how you ride them. What the bike setup is. The way you

put the power on. The way the electronics work. It's all about

that. I think Jorge Lorenzo is one of the smoother guys out there.

Dani Pedrosa is lighter, 20 kilos lighter, or 15 anyway. His tyres

should be less worn. Once he senses blood in the water, Lorenzo will

have his tail up. He can sense it. He is about to know what Honda

tastes like. He looks like he can get past hoor here. He took half a

second out of Stoner last time around. The gap is still stumbling.

It looks like when, not if. We have another four laps remaining. They

have closed it down hugely. Look at the way they are sliding. There is

Dani Pedrosa who normally has the wheels in line.you couldn't bet

against Dani Pedrosa winning this race. The Hondas are faster down

the straight. Nicky Hayden has lost two places he is behind Barbera and

Bautista. There is too much going on. There will be stressful times

for bike No 1. 26, Pedrosa, the only chance Stoner has. If he can

put pressure on. Watch this now. Closing, closing, closing. Is he

going to go for it? Not always the latest on the brakes. He has done

so. Honda, Honda now. Pedrosa is the fastest guy on the track.

said watch for him. I didn't think it would be watching for him

exactly like. This this is extraordinary. You are riding with

Lorenzo. It's a sandwich now. It's as close as you like. Four laps to

go. We have the three standing aliens together, two Hondas. Those

two guys, Steve, again, took another half a second out of Stoner.

Stoner has major round black issues, by the looks of. It look at that!

He's been mugged, how about that? Jorge Lorenzo, thanks for the

little gap. Room in there for a small one. He didn't need second

invitation, did he? Jorge Lorenzo is right up the back of Casey

Stoner Honda now. Three together. We don't need look at any monitors

or timing boards, it's physical. They are locked in battle. Have we

a fight on our hands. Lore is No 1 in the premier class. Stoner has

had more wins than anyone. Things look like they will be squared up.

He's coming on the outside. wasn't close enough. Boy, oh, boy!

Pedrosa has rear grip out of that last corner Turn 11. Up to 12. Now

up towards the final few corners for the long straight. This will be

interesting down the straight. Is he going for the inside? He has!

Unbelievable. Can he cut back? Let's watch for the drive Stoner

gets out of here. The Honda has more squirt. The Lorenzo got out of

there to the max? He absolutely did. He has the inside line. Will he get

it stopped again into this first corner? Three laps to go, guys. Boy.

Who would of thought. We did say Lap 15 would be tyre time. It

played into that. This is what we want this year, Bridgestone made a

tyre that is more universal tyre. It won't have the durability, I

don't think, of last year's tyre. We hope we will get rid of those

cold washouts on lap one or lap two. Horrible. We don't care if they are

worn out at the end, because it makes for good racing. Great racing.

Fantastic. Stoner has to deal with his team-mate. He is the guy that

has fewer... Look at that, he is in trouble Stoner. Dani Pedrosa is in

less trouble as far as tyres are concerned. He has to get past his

team-mate. He will be so fast down the straight it won't be funny.

Look at this, look at that gap? You don't need a timing monitor.

Lorenzo is gone, he's on the next page. I would say Stoner has

chatter going on. More than just tyre grip. I'm talking about he how

he goes to the inside of the kerb there. All over the place, Stoner

is pushing hard. Amazing how he grabs the inside of the kerb which

are nowhere near the grip. He has the confidence to let it slide

across and drift back over the track. There is the boss of Yamaha

Racing. Cal Crutchlow further back is still hanging on to that gap in

front of Dovizioso, only by a couple of tenths. Pedrosa looking

for a way through. He can't do. It he is dropping back. Stoner is

defending. Number 26, Dani Pedrosa, will get the slip stream here. I

think Stoner is later on the brakes normally. He has the draft past.

Surely, he is going to miss the corner? He managed to get it

stopped. Unreal! That was impressive. That was something we

didn't use to see from Dani Pedrosa. Outbraking Casey Stoner. He has

been working oen that. Two laps to grks buddy. Has he any chance of

closing down Lorenzo? Dani Pedrosa has. I believe he has. If he gets a

clear run he has a chance, two lapse remaining. One and three

quarters now. If he has tyres left. The speed down the straight. He has

0.8 of a second. We will find out if he has closed that gap down.

This is turning into a cracking start to MotoGP season. Watch the

rear wheel. As he gets on the brakes here, the rear wheel comes

up. I thought he was going to run it in there too hot. Got it stopped

nicely. The world champion there watching with great interest.

glad I'm not doing this any more. That looks like hard work. Has he

come around to help Valentino Rossi to talk him out of what is going on

in his head. Ben Spies is back in 11 behind Valentino Rossi.

Valentino Rossi is in the top ten, at ten. Still hanging in. There is

Cal and his team-mate. I like Andrea Dovizioso but this is our

preferred order. Fourth place. at this, Barbera still in front of

Nicky Hayden. There is your lead Ducati. Nicky Hayden. The boss of

Ducati is here. Nicky will dive up the inside. He ran wide there.

Running wide is Barbera. Hector Barbera is on the bike they

discarded at the end of last season saying it wasn't quite right. He is

on the "B" machine, Hector Barbera. He is doing a good job on it. 0.9

of a second we have. He extended it. Come on, Cal, you can do. It brake

as late as you can, but get it stopped. Leg out, don't try to pass

there or I'll kick you! OK, nice and neat. Look at this gagle, 69,

Hayden, 19, Bautista, Barbera. Can he stop it? No. No, no, no! See ya,

mate. What a shame for him. The battle for sixth position. Bautista

in seventh place. Charlie is choking. I get a bit excited.

Someone not excited here is Lorenzo. It looks neat and job done. They

are starting to smile. Starting to relax. So they should. He has all

about a second lead. Final lap. Jorge Lorenzo, the 2010 World

Champion. Never won here in the premier class. He has had wins in

other classes. This will stand the entire thing on it is ear. Casey

Stoner has dropped way back now. He will have to settle for the last

step on the podium. You could of got monster odds on Dani Pedrosa

beating Stoner. You could of. Half pretty comfortable. Dani Pedrosa

coming up, but he will know the gap. Dani Pedrosa will be being careful

and will not want to chuck it down the road. It is all his. Head down,

and you wouldn't believe it. Yamaha takes the first blood of 2012.

Lorenzo wins in Qatar.. Casey Stoner, the world champion,

finishes third. What a shovel that was. Cal Crutchlow, you beauty,

qualifying third, finishes 4th. Take That, Britain! Nice work. And

Nicky Hayden, he takes the honours. The top six for Nicky. Hector

Barbera breaking himself, and sad to say, Valentino Rossi, 10th place.

The third placed Ducati. That is a real shame. OK, Ben Spies, we don't

know what happened to him. He has just got a hold of Colin Edwards

who was the leading CRT runner. Nice job, Colin, a bit of a giant-

killing. 11th, not bad. 12 place for Colin, good stuff for him. It

comes round the de Puniet. He kept his motorcycle -- Randy de Puniet.

He kept his motorcycle together. Yonny Hernandez came third in CRT.

14 out right, third in CRT. There were races all the way through that,

it was a belter. There is Aleix Espargaro rounding out the top 15.

James Allison still circulating. He is a bit of a way back. -- James

Ellison. Casey Stoner has been the guy to beat and is always the guy

to beat around here. Jorge Lorenzo, a great start of the season for him.

He is asking what is going on. I deny have time to tell you on the

slowing-down lap, but I'm sure will find out. Jorge Lorenzo.

conditions, 56.3, that was his last lap. It was a shocking problem he

must add developed there. We have got our hands on a championship. If

Casey Stoner is going to have to work that hard against this guy,

and if they can scratch their way back with a Ducati, we could have a

real run on our hands. Last lap for Lorenzo, 56.3. Last lap for

Crutchlow, 56.7 at the end of the race. Casey Stoner, I wouldn't want

to be in the garage after that. I guess that the bike went away from

him. He looked very comfortable until about lack 16, and they are

scratching their heads already. will be absolutely chuffed, won't

he? No question. Qualifying in 7th position, but what a start. He had

a big spill in the practice. That knocked him around a bit. He will

be thinking, one more lap, I could have got it. Raich -- races are

always too short when you think that. Colin Edwards, plenty of life

and the old dog. He is pleased to be we his team. Valentino Rossi

will be distraught. It is horrible coming in and everyone staring at

Especially when your former partner is in front of you. There is the

chief of the crew. He will be dead pleased with that. A good solid

start to the season. This yes. -- think he might have a problem with

his arm. The tea is a monster breaking circuit. Nicky Hayden was

thinking he rode the wheels off it, but it is just too difficult. At

least he dragged everything out of himself to be the main Ducati in

the top six. What a start for Jorge Lorenzo. It went wrong last year

when he lost the tip of his finger. He is a bit lighter this year, but

he has it sorted. I think he was on that unimportant wedding ring

finger, wasn't it? Yes. OK, you can see the top three but we are most

Carl Crutchlow finished second. -- Cal Crutchlow. Fantastic

performance. What a great battle. Yes, you know. Yamaha has done a

great shot. Andre has come in and was still in the championship last

year so he is no slouch. The bike is working well, so thanks to

everyone at helm. I think this is more deserved. We have worked hard

over the winter. We did not get a podium this time, but there were

three guys fast on the day, simple as that. The podium was not that

Valencia 1 was a bit lucky, but this was a solid one. That is what

Here we go, it is the shatter -- chatter, and we have got the arm of

pomp. Credit to Cal Crutchlow, it sounds like he's been for a Sunday

afternoon ride. It shows how fit he is. I'd seen him in the swimming

pool trying to keep his strength up. A good solid ride from Cal

Crutchlow, and we are proud of him. Yeah, what are you doing after?

That is what he is saying there. Valentino Rossi, rounding out the

top 10. A tough day for Casey Stoner. Was it the tyres, the

chassis, the arm? It wasn't an issue with the chassis. We were the

fastest out there and after four laps I started getting really bad

arm pomp. After I came out the running corners, I was holding on

by two fingers on the exit and then every time it was shaking my hands

off. By the end of the race I could not repay any more and I couldn't

use the brakes. I couldn't keep up the pace. There was no problem with

us winning tonight. We had a bit of chatter at the end, but in general

we are happy. A lot of positives to take from this. We have a couple of

weeks to de -- recover and train. We have to solve the right arm

pumping, but we are happy with the pace we are out. Congratulations,

with that is you do not know how to fix it. It is not always the

easiest thing to fix. Let's check the standings, the same as the race

Dani Pedrosa will be chuffed. smile when you came in there.

Congratulations on the podium. Thank you. I really enjoyed this

race. I had a great time and I was not at my best over the weekend but

today I think my team and I did a superb job. The start was key. And

then I had the rhythm. We had good rhythm and unfortunately the end,

Jorge Lorenzo was a bit smarter than me and made the right passes,

and the overtakes and I was stuck with Casey Stoner for a lap and

then he was gone. But anyway, very happy. Hopefully we can continue

like this and get better for the next one. Fun for you and fun for

us to watch. Congratulations. Thanks to everyone, that was jolly

with Casey Stoner, it is horrible because you don't know how to fix

it. You will have specialists looking at it but it's not the

first time he suffered with something like mad. It is a big

break here. It is when your muscle gets bigger than the sack than a

Tissier's. Jorge Lorenzo your race You will be delighted with the win

and Dani Pedrosa told us you were just a bit smarter. An amazing race.

I put in all of my energy into the track. This victory shows you must

never give up. Casey Stoner has been very strong at the beginning

but hopefully for me and for as he dropped his pace and and when I

passed him, I then past Dani Pedrosa. Amazing race, Colin. I am

very grateful for Yamaha because they have done a good job this

winter. They have improved a little bit, so they have been very strong.

Leading the championship. The start of the very hard season. Thank you.

It will not be an easy season, Steve, but the real key was in

keeping up the pressure, wasn't it? That makes it so much harder. Even

if you don't think you can get past, you have to keep leaning on the guy

in front of you, in that case Casey Stoner. We do not want an easy

season. We want a tough season for everyone. Arm pump is like to get

cramp and it is just pumped up on your arms and you're clinging on to

the bikes. It is not pulling the brake on, because you do that with

two fingers. It is just hanging on to the bike. You are clinging on,

doing 210 mph and having to hang on and the really is horrible holding

on to a motorcycle with that sort of horse power at that speed and

you cannot, because your army's feeling bad. We know Casey Stoner

is a physical rider. Another bloke who does not want to wear himself

out his Colin Edwards. Congratulations, the top CRT. How

was the race? It was all right. The first corner I knew would be crazy.

The guys behind me were in Super Sport mode, they are axe murderers!

It was a little bit crazy. I didn't want to get caught up in something

stupid. Anyway after that we picked them off one by one. They settled

into a paste and around a third term the bike was bubbling and I

spent a lap with my hand on the clutch waiting for something to

happen. I must afflicted to harden the electronics got confused but

then I saw Benn coming. I put my head down and he left to beat in

reserve. You didn't finish saying a rude word, so we will let you get

away with it. Sorry about it. crazy kids! Yamaha leading the

construction championship, as you would expect. Repsol, the leading

Honda team, Yamaha Factory in behind. Monster, Ducati, and

looking at that she would have to say that Bautista has a bit to do.

Yes, he doesn't seem to have gelled with a motorcycle as much as you

Very much so, but he pushed very hard. It will be enormous relief to

this guy that he can do it and it is much closer than it was last

year, let's face it. Casey Stoner was always going to win unless

something went wrong, but now he has his hands full. I am really

impress, I've got to say. I was impressed with Stefan Bradl, and he

is a star of the future. OK, we have a championship on our hands.

It looks that way, chaps, and wouldn't you know it, the next