Normal order has been restored, the four aliens are at the top of the timing sheets separated by less than half-a- second. Jorge Lorenzo, spaceman outfit and all, has been fastest in every session and set his fifth pole of the season, beating his rookie season mark of four. He found himself in some pain at the start of qualifying but explained it away as the result of not Valentino Rossi is second, and didn't look entirely delighted with life at the front row press conference. He's got over his braking problems but is now searching for increased traction coming out of the very tight chicane—getting power to the tarmac out of slow corners has been the one perennial gripe with the M1. "Second is okay for today," he shrugged.

Of course the real issue is his stamina over race distance, and we are going to have to wait to find out whether that has improved over the last nine weeks. Incidentally, Casey is using the aluminium swinging arm not the carbon one.

The returning Casey Stoner was third, mildly surprised that things were going as well so quickly. Yesterday he got arm pump, and pain in his back and neck from the strain of braking—not surprising if you haven't trained properly for five months. Today he felt much better and reckons he'll have no problems with his strength in the race. Of course the real issue is his stamina over race distance, and we are going to have to wait to find out whether that has improved over the last nine weeks. Incidentally, Casey is using the aluminium swinging arm not the carbon one.

Away from MotoGP, attention is starting to focus on the last four races ever in 250 class after 60 years of history. That's coming down to a battle between the ever-smiling Alvaro Bautista on the Aspar Apilia and super stylish Honda man Hiroshi Aoyama, who has just one three-year old motorcycle in his garage. Hiro leads the championship by 14 points. They both start from the front row tomorrow, and it now seems certain that Aoyama will join the rest of the top four men in the class, Barbera, Simoncelli and Bautista, in becoming a MotoGP rider next year. I understand that Daniel Epp's team, team currently running Tom Luthi in 250s, will move to MotoGP next year with a Honda for Aoyama.

The suggestion that there will be eight Hondas on the MotoGP grid next season doesn't look so far fetched.