Two names are on the list for potential Monza WSBK victors in front of tomorrow's two races. They are:

1. James
2. Toseland

The way things looked here in practice at Monza, James Toseland has the grid in a nice little ten Kate headlock and he's not going to let up. While not the fastest in the session--former 250 and MotoGP rider Regis Laconi was quickest--Toseland looked poised, confident and fast. The ten Kate Honda is very fast and precise at the same time; unless Toseland loses out in what will certainly be a drafting game in tomorrow's races, he'll be tough to beat.

It's odd to write this because one of the last times I saw James Toseland he was doing the 100 mph somersault flop into a sandtrap at Assen on Misano or Oschersleben or somewhere (I have successfully blocked out this detail) with his Castrol Honda 600 doing a pretty ugly cartwheel into the same sand. I felt the combo lost points because the two were far from synchronized. This crash happened so close to me that I felt the air rush of Toseland's body as he flew past me. It looked like one of those crashes where afterwards you're happy to learn that the force of the flinging has left you a half an inch taller, but, at the same time, dismayed to learn your arms are now a half inch shorter.

I'm virtually certain that Toseland pooped his pants in that crash. My certainty stems from the fact that I almost pooped mine just from watching it. He got up and I looked at him. His pupils were so big you could stick your finger in them.

Interesting to watch him today. He's come a long way.

Toseland led Troy Corser around for quite a while in this morning's session in a beautiful riding duet as the two really explored the studio space of the Monza circuit. His rivals are occasionally fast but they're really working hard to make a few fast laps, while Toseland looks like a a well-oiled machine, effortlessly putting out fast laps.

Crowd favorite Max Biaggi, meanwhile, looked out of sorts in the session. Missing his marks, sliding around, looking around dismayed in the garage, Biaggi finally pulled it all together at the end of the session and went fourth-fastest. I'll try to ask him what's up in a few minutes as he's due to come in the press room for a press conference for the Vallelunga circuit's WSBK event. I'll have to wait in line for the sixty-odd Italian reporters that are here waiting with bated breath for Max to say something, anything, though. Max's rock star popularity in Italy remains, it seems.

Troy Bayliss' bike stopped in that session and he lost some time waiting to get back to his back up. Team-mate Lorenzo Lanzi made a mistake and cut the chicane as the session ended. He moved up the order for a few seconds. Unlike in US racing, we didn't have to stare at his bogus time for an hour until enough people agreed it was bad and the session results should be re-set and re-printed.

It was removed ten seconds after he re-entered the track. End of story.