what do you think now after jerez?

Far too early to tell. I will remain firmly in the oobservation camp until the season is about 25% through !!!!

There is still far too many pieces of the puzzle missing anyway. Pedrobot was away getting a personality transplant and the new Honda engine was nohere to be seen.

I think Vale is too wiley now to be all that bothered about winning the car and will not be showing his hand too much. In saying that though none of the Yamahas were really brilliant.

Yes Casey looks good but I will fully wake up once they line up on the grid in Qatar - for now it is still pretty meaningless.

Testing isn't totally irrelevant, but it's not a good indication of whats gonna happen when the racing starts. If you go by last years testing then Rossi would have walked away with it.

If you go by whats happened at Jerez so far, then again Vale has the upper hand. Ok, Stoner won the BMW, but yesterday in the dry on race rubber, Vale was far more consistent in putting in fast laps. Most in the mid 1'40s. Stoner only managed a handful in that bracket, most of his were mid 1'41s.

If anything, Casey was holding back the previous day. He certainly stamped his authority for the TV cameras. 1.3 seconds faster than the next (Rossi). He only did 9 laps in that qualifying session. 5 of those faster than Rossi.

This televised qualifying session is supposed to wet the appetite of potential viewers for the coming season. I think it may have backfired. If Casey's dominance carries on like this, the championship is a foregone conclusion. Could Mick Doohans record of most wins in a season be under threat?

But, like I said, testing and especially that TV special qualifying session don't really mean a great deal.

Personally, whatever happens, one persons dominance or a wide open championship, I'll be glued to the TV. Hopefully get to a couple of races too.

Can't wait.

Shuggie and Neilgtti have said it all. but I just have to mention that during all the winter tests he was at, Stoner did the least amount of work and still set some fantastic times. Scary really. I hope he is not going to be as quick during racing but as we know, he is so quick in the first few laps, I have to wonder if anyone can catch up before the end. Only time will tell. and like the others ..I cant wait.

Hey Jody

Shuggy put it very nicely so all I'll add is that after it finished the first comment out of my mouth was "hmmmmmm".

Time will tell but I had an awful premonition that everyone else will be racing for second place behind Stoner. Hmmmmmmmm!

But then again - who knows with racing?

What do you think?

i have to agree with the above, i think we will be well into the 1st quarter of the season before there is any real indication of who is going onto the podium as champion.

Lets hope that we get some closer races this season and not so many runaway wins.

I still think de puniet will one to watch this season though i cant see him winning i think we may see a few podium finishes.

too early to tell but rossi will be fighting all the way this season to win his title back and we all know he is more than capable of doing it cant wait to see them battling against each other this season as it will be a good one

As Mac says, its just too early at the moment.

Nice birthday helmet design for Mr R however !