Except, possibly, for Bayliss romping away at the front. He has the look of a man who is destined to win, I would have to say, ably aided and abetted by every one of his main rivals being noticeably inconsistent. It may be that, with so much talent vying in the grid, it'll be the battle for runner-up that is hardest fought.

Biggest surprise so far is that the Ducati isn't completely steamrollering the opposition. It isn't even eligible for a weight penalty. Could it be that the Italians weren't exaggerating when they said they needed the extra 200cc to be competitive? Or are they going to be turning the screws later in the season with a bit more development under their belts? Certainly the fours were fast enough on the day: only Checa's comedy wipe-out of Neukirchner stopped the results looking distinctly unfavourable to Ducati. You have to feel for Neukirchner, being on the receiving end of someone else's accident after 22.9 laps in the lead. Looked like he might have done something terrible to his foot, too - they didn't say on the commentary - but apparently it was actually his collarbone he busted. Hope he's fit for Assen.

Accidents aside, I have to say the ex-GP blokes are looking good as challengers - Biaggi obviously has form already, but Checa and Nieto are both showing well. Good to see Kiyo on something like pace as well.

The only bad thing to be said about the event were the Eurosport commenters; Burnicle & Whitham were at the snowed-off BSB, so we had a couple of somewhat duff amateurs trying to keep track of which Troy was which and injecting a dose of dullness not heard since Roger Burnett hung up his earphones...

For all that, it's still worth buying satellite just to get the bike racing!

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

Are there no races on normal channels?!!

The car in front, is now behind!

MotoGP and BSB's are shown on BBC I believe, but that's it.

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

Sky News & Events package, £16 per month, there's usually an offer around on getting the box & setup free/cheap and you get all the bike racing...(no, I don't work for them, and, yes, it does gall me to hand money over to Murdoch, but I have to say it's good value in my opinion).

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

Another double for Bayliss puts him pretty much 3 races clear of Checa in the points: barring something truly terrible happening, it's got to be his year.

Certainly isn't Haga's, is it? 50%+ DNF rate won't get you far up the table. Damn: I was hoping he or Biaggi might come out with the 1-plate. Lucky I didn't put money on it...

Neukirchner continues to impress, though, as does Checa. Smooth riders on well-sorted bikes - both in with a real shout for runner-up, I would say.

The World Supersport race was far and away the best dice of the year in any class so far: the depth of talent in that field is immense and the machinery all seems fairly matched (Suzuki excepted). Absolutely brilliant, right down to Pitt taking the race by about 5cm on the line. Walker should be on the 08 engine next round out: hope to see him back up the front. Certainly deserves it, the effort he's been putting in with the 07 Kwak.

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

Kudos to Neukirchner for taking the win he should have had a couple of rounds ago and for cheerfully bellowing the words "f***ing fantastic" in his post-race interview. He seemed pretty chuffed with a well-deserved victory.

Foret took the Supersports race in classic style, peering over his shoulder the whole way. He's a great little rider, though - everyone takes the mick about him looking behind all the time, but if he can do that and still win, why not?

And Haga's millisecond victory in race 2 on a Yamaha that could not compete with the Suzukis on speed was just brilliant. Without doubt one of the all-time great riders, never gives up, never stops trying and obviously with no understanding of the word "fear" whatsoever.

Bayliss blowing his Ducati up netted him the first DNF of the season: annoying for him, but not materially affecting his dominance of the season. Still up there with a big old lead.

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

Nori Haga, though, what a boy! Double victory in some style, albeit a little bit quick in Race 2 to put his hand up for rain. Can't say I blame him for that, given the effort he'd put in thus far.

Bayliss still has the lead, but he doesn't look invincible. Very, very difficult to beat by enough to make a championship difference, but not invincible. And after making it tough on themselves earlier in the season, the competition has started to show consistency - it looks possible there may even be a genuine challenge for the title by the end of it all.

Of course, given my record for predictions, that may not quite be the way it turns out...

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

To be fair, qualifying went a long way towards giving the grid a bit of a peculiar look - grip levels seemed particularly unpredictable and tyre durability was a big issue. It took until race 2 for a lot of people to sort themselves out. Nobody comes clsoe to Bayliss for consistency, though, and he continues to inch away at the top of the table. Amusingly, both he and Corser ran wide on successive laps right at the end of race 2 to let Xaus and Biaggi through for a Sterilgarda one-two: something else you'd have got long odds on. Checa did himself no favours in the points running, so Max N is the only person left within 50 points of Bayliss (49, in fact). This one may well be over bar the shouting.

Most interesting fact from the day: BMW have signed Xaus for next year, the rumour being that Corser will be his team-mate. Guess they're serious about competing...

>> ex silens nox noctis <<

Be sure, ride safe and enjoy

I don't know whether it was Sky being greedy or the terrestrial lot being cheap, but I still can't believe that all the bike racing was allowed to go to satellite. Huge mistake, in my opinion. Over the last couple of years, the number of non-bikers I know who caught the BBC/ITV coverage by accident and found themselves hooked on it was well on the increase, but I can't see any of them paying a (not-inconsiderable) monthly subscription for it. Stupid and unfair: let's hope next year is different!

BMW are very definitely up for it, perhaps because they're fed up with people laughing at their lardy tractor-inspired designs. It must be said that the S1000RR doesn't look anything like a traditional BMW, but quite a lot like an R1/Blade hybrid...! This is the prototype:

>> ex silens nox noctis <<