Two certainties went overboard today here at Sepang. First, Marco Melandri, against all predictions, decided to ride. That second place in the championship is still up for grabs and having a heel like an embroidery pattern isn't enough to stop him. By the way, anyone who thinks there is any animosity between Melandri and Rossi following the Motegi coming together should have seen them in the hotel lobby last night sitting together talking in that animated Italian fashion and doing a lot of giggling.

Secondly, there is the matter of the Camel Honda ride. Shane Byrne has it, Chris Vermeulen is penciled in for the final three races. The team's position is now 'let's see how Shane does' plus a bit of 'Troy might be back for Phillip Island'. Both sound more like political correctness than anything else.

Kenny Roberts Junior was fastest in a rainy session this afternoon. He set a fast lap just five laps in, then parked it, venturing out for only one more exploratory lap late on. He then refused to talk to Randy Mamola on Eurosport's live TV feed.

The weather has been oppressively hot and sticky all week, and the forecast for qualifying and race day is thunder storms in the middle of the afternoon ...

Will we see the new 'flag-to-flag' rain rules come into play for the first time?