Round 10 of the 2005 FIM Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship sees the vicious four-stroke prototype MotoGP machines and their pilots arrive in Germany to tackle the short, yet challenging, Sachsenring circuit.

The Veltins Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland follows hot on the heels of the astonishing British GP, which saw Valentino Rossi yet again emerge victorious, taking his seventh win of the season in horrendous conditions at Donington Park.

Rossi now leads the rider's championship by an outrageous margin of 104 points over Marco Melandri, with American Colin Edwards now lying third after his impressive podiums at both Assen and Laguna Seca, and his battling fourth-place finish in the UK. The Texan is now just a single point back of Movistar man Melandri.

The Sachsenring circuit provides one of the most challenging tracks for the riders and engineers to get their heads around. Outright top speed performance doesn't top the list of priorities at this venue. Balance and effective mid-range power, as well as maneuverability and, most importantly, tire performance are the key areas to exploit and conquer if you are going to be competitive.

Both Michelin and Bridgestone are bringing new tires to Germany for their teams and the free practice sessions will be used not just to find a nimble set-up for the chassis and suspension, but for the evaluation of the tires for Sunday's race. Last season saw Valentino Rossi, against the expectations of many of the press, struggle for grip with the 2004 Yamaha M1, the Honda riders finding better tire performance on the day.

With the work completed on the Yamaha over the winter to make the bike a better all-around performer, and with Rossi and Edwards now fully hitting their stride as an effective development partnership, HRC will want to find their own answers to the problems the Sachsenring track will bring for the pilots of their former all-conquering V5 machine.

The history of the Sachsenring circuit stretches back to the 1920's and shows that the local people were undaunted by political red tape. They love their motorcycle racing in Germany and would not allow bureaucratic restraints to hold them back.

The old road circuit, that was situated between the picturesque towns of Dresden and Leipzig, was home to the former East German Grand Prix and that event saw massive crowds in attendance as they watched their heroes wind their way around the five-mile road course, every vantage point was crammed with eager, knowledgeable race fans.

The first meeting took place in 1961, and legends Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini dominated the event for more than a decade, winning ten of the twelve premier-class races held there.

The last grand prix staged on the old circuit was won by Agostini riding the MV Agusta in 1972, and the consensus from the German public, and even from the German racing organizations, was that the end of that particular era would see the demise of the event in that part of the country.

But, as the years rolled by, and with the stranglehold of an oppressive home regime no longer a monkey on the backs of the German people, and with the undaunted enthusiasm of the locals, the new Sachsenring facility, which lies five miles to the west of the bustling town of Chemnitz, was built in 1996.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing returned to the venue in 1998 and has been on the calendar every year since with the track being gradually extended and a new pit complex constructed in 2001. The track underwent slight modifications in 2003 to reduce the lap distance from its former overall length of 2.3 miles to 2.28 miles, a 108-foot section of tarmac removed.

The circuit only just meets the minimum track distance allowed by the FIM for a Grand Prix meeting but has a tight, twisty undulating rollercoaster ride of a layout. Some hate it, some like it but, for sure, the Sachsenring is a unique venue and far more interesting than the Formula-One-destroyed Hockenheimring or the frankly boring Nurburgring.

The circuit, which is the third slowest on the calendar behind Estoril and Valencia, incorporates four right-handed turns and ten lefts and has a relatively short main straight at just under half a mile, but it has some stunning corners and the awesome sweep down the hill in the final section.

With the weather conditions causing many of the usual front-running suspects to go for an early bath last weekend, the likes of Gibernau, Biaggi, Hayden and Nakano will want to get straight back to work on Friday.

Sete Gibernau has proven to be a bit of a wizard with finding geometry settings that work at these more-challenging European venues, and Michelin will want that to be the case again so they can get the double vice-champion to work on the new batch of race tires, especially for tire edge grip evaluation.

Nick Hayden's slide-and-charge style could prove fruitful for the American around the Sachsenring and, no doubt, Hayden's feedback on front tire reaction will be much-sought-after by the Michelin technicians.

Max Biaggi likes the place but the Roman's problems with tire chatter and lack of balance with his factory V5 may come back to bite him this weekend. Biaggi's precise style should, however, suit the tires if the team can get the power down so as to avoid early rear tire wear during the race and if Biaggi can conquer those front tracking problems and all that while he contemplates a move back to Camel Honda with Barros for 2006.

Marco Melandri (Movistar Honda), Troy Bayliss and Alex Barros (Camel Pons) and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta) will all want to add to the HRC constructor's points haul as well as getting in the mix for the podium.

Will Luca Montiron be able to get a second grid slot for 2006 with HRC seemingly having some clout in that department? If they do, could Andrea Dovizioso (with an HRC contact in his back pocket) truly make the team a Japanese/Italian concern preparing "Dovi" for the 800cc era from 2007?

With Hayden and Pedrosa looking set for Repsol colors next year, with Sete and Marco looking likely to stay put for another year for Movistar, and with Barros and Biaggi riding their Camels, would HRC really run eight bikes, seven 990cc bikes and an adapted 800cc machine for Pedrosa?

Yamaha factory riders Rossi and Edwards are both on fire in terms of form and confidence and, with the Gauloises squad leading the team championship and with Yamaha leading the constructor's title chase, they will want to dominate from the first practice session. A leg up from the Fortuna squad (Xaus and Elias) would aid the cause for Yamaha over Honda.

Edwards will be leading the Michelin tire evaluation with Rossi adapting the bike to the "twist and grip" layout, and their telemetry overlays will make for interesting reading as the pair work together to try and put the 2005-refined M1 on top of the box. Both riders have a stable geometry setting dialled into their bikes, so the Yamahas should be more effective than they were last year at this event, or so the expectation goes.

Power is nothing without control, and the GP-5 Desmosedici has it in spades but this circuit doesn't promote the big crash-and-bang approach. It will be interesting to see if the Ducatisti can find a balance between mid-range power and tire stability to make their bike effective against the seemingly more refined and adaptable Yamaha and Honda machines. Ducati is struggling and have another year on its Bridgestone contract. Will the signing of Hopkins do them or John any favors in reality?

The Kawasaki has a nimble chassis and effective electronics package with their "big-bang" version of the in-line four powerplant, and it may be the best opportunity of the year to get the Ninja on the podium in the dry. And, with the team being based in Germany, with Alex Hofmann racing at home, can Kawasaki too find a Bridgestone tire to promote Hofmann, Nakano and wild-card entry Olivier Jacque up the order?

Suzuki will be in a buoyant mood after Kenny Junior's podium at the rain-lashed British GP, but around the Sachsenring, it may be a different story. Hopkins is highly competitive right now with Kenny off the pace during many of the dry sessions and "Hopper" looks to be the one that holds the Suzuki-Bridgestone hopes in his throttle hand. As we've said, finding outright power isn't the Holy Grail at the Sachsenring, so can Suzuki find usable linear power without shredding the tires to pieces after six laps?

For Shane Byrne (Team Roberts), Roberto Rolfo (D'antin Pramac) and Franco Battaini and James Ellison (WCM Blata), it will be the usual attempt to smash and grab any points they can from the back of the grid.

The fans, who are positioned in such a way as to create an amphitheatre-style atmosphere, are as passionate as they ever were on the old road-based circuit and last season the German Grand Prix saw a weekend attendance figure of just over 207,000!!

The extra-curricular activities, traditionally anyway, kick off at the German Grand Prix with World Champions Valentino Rossi, Kenny Roberts and the soccer-mad Max Biaggi heading the all-star rider's line-up in the annual Riders For Health soccer match.

There are numerous Grand Prix stars who compete against a German all-star side and the likes of Alex Barros and Carlos Checa usually get kitted up to raise money for the charity, heavily backed by former GP star and Eurosport UK television commentator Randy Mamola.

The fans get to mix with the stars, grab an autograph and there are plenty of opportunities for a photographic moment or two. The match itself is not taken lightly by any stretch of the imagination--protection of reputation and showmanship aplenty that's for sure.

Rossi doesn't like the Sachsenring--he hates it, in fact--but will that stop him from taking eight victories from ten races this weekend? You would be a brave man to bet against it.

So, with all that said, it only remains to follow the Soup guidelines for enjoying the German Grand Prix on Sunday. Pack off the wife and kids to any relatives who will have them, move the fridge to a strategic position (arm's length preferably) wind the volume up and batten down the hatches. It's MotoGP time again.