It's supposed to be a three-man fight: Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner, equal on points as Rossi goes for his 100th win, Lorenzo looks to overthrow his team-mate and Stoner returns to a track where he won last year. Sure enough, the three fast men are up the front of the grid but there is a fourth man—actually he's second. Dani Pedrosa has spent the two weeks since Catalunya weaning himself off painkillers and says he feels better for it. He latched onto Rossi a couple of minutes from the end of qualifying—when Vale no longer had the option of aborting a lap to get rid of a follower - and very nearly took pole. Dani is sure he'll be sore tonight but he's happy to be competitive again. However, there is no way he is race fit, he hasn't been able to train for months, so he shouldn't be able to go the distance. However, he really shouldn't be able to ride a Grand Prix motorcycle at all, so ignore everything I've said.

If it doesn't happen then maybe you guys'll be lucky at Laguna.

Lorenzo started qualifying by putting in a 17-lap run of stunning consistency, Stoner ended the session very, very angry with, I think, Loris Capirossi—there's a fight you'd buy a ticket for—and on the front of the second row.

Capirossi also upset Alex de Angelis by touring through the chicane at the end of the session. De Angelis shut off himself to remonstrate with the Suzuki man and was almost tailgated by Gabor Talmacsi. A very scary moment.

Can another race this year be as perfect as Catalunya? Despite the modifications, Assen is still a circuit that stirs the blood. You know that if Valentino couldn't win his hundredth at Mugello then Assen is the place he'd want to do it. If it doesn't happen then maybe you guys'll be lucky at Laguna.