The group commonly referred to as 'the Fab Four' and Ben Spies today at Valencia. image by mister sclaera

When the season is effectively over, there is precious little useful information to be gained at a pre-event press conference. Rossi, Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa duly went through the motions, saying they would be trying as hard as ever without actually sounding like they meant it.

The last man up to the microphone was Ben Spies, and he said a few things that got the pens moving again. He played down expectations: "I know what to expect, I know how fast these guys are", he said with a nod to the four men sat on his right. "A Superbike and a MotoGP bike are two different worlds, I have a very Superbike riding style, I have to do more learning than I've ever done in my career." And again: "People don't understand how fast these guys are."

While remaining resolutely downbeat and making the point that for him the race is really three days of extra testing that will make the real test on Tuesday and Wednesday more relevant, there were some good news items. Ben is the same height as Valentino so he fits on the M1 just fine - his Yamaha Superbike he says was very short and the Suzuki he rode in MotoGP last year was definitely too small for him. He's also back with his old number eleven this weekend and will use it next season as well.

Effectively, Ben is working with the factory test team, with his old crew chief Tom Houseworth looking on and learning. On Tuesday, they will both be in Tech 3 uniform. As the top four places in the championship are settled bar some extreme circumstances, much attention will focus on Ben this weekend. He's dealing with a lot of media attention, and that isn't going to stop.