Testing the Kawasaki MotoGP bike, he is.

Take a good look at today's times, they could be your best clue to what happens on Saturday. Today the sun shone, on Friday it is likely to rain for qualifying. So far it looks a lot like Donington, Stoner out front with Hayden, Rossi and Pedrosa in close attendance and the current hotshot Randy de Puniet in second place. The Dunlop Yamaha boys stuck in qualifiers to try and make up for the debacle of Donington and ended up sixth and twelfth with Guintoli fastest in one sector.

There are one or two unusual sights. Rossi and Edwards have a retina-searing paint scheme in honour of the launch of the new Fiat 500 next week, the first of four schemes that Fiat will have on the factory Yamahas this season. If I tell you that the fairing features some very 1960s graphics and the word 'twist' and that the leathers have pink and baby blue stripes you'll get the idea. The nose of the fairing looks good in Italian flag colors though.

The bad news is that Toni Elias is out for a long time. He had what was looking like a harmless crash this morning sliding across tarmac, but he hit deep gravel which flipped him and fractured his left femur. It is rumored to be a spiral fracture which means a complicated job for the surgeons who are operating on him as I write. More news tomorrow but it looks like a long period of recuperation for Toni.

The question is who will ride the Gresini Honda from Laguna Seca onwards. The team is entitled to field just one rider at the Sachsenring but the name Neil Hodgson is already being mentioned: he knows Laguna and has tested the Bridgestones this year.

One man who will be at Laguna is Roger Lee Hayden. He will test the Kawasaki at Autopolis in Japan on Monday and Tuesday and the official announcement will be made on Wednesday. Kawasaki may also run a wild card at Motegi but the rider then will probably be Akira Yanagawa who is currently leading the All-Japan Championship.