Arriving at Phillip Island from Motegi is like a breath of fresh air – literally and metaphorically speaking! From the heat and the haze of a remote area of Japan you step out of Melbourne airport – usually first thing in the morning – to crisp, clear skies and cool temperatures. For the Americans and the English in the paddock (and of course the Australians!) it is like arriving home because everybody speaks the same language and even the food is so familiar.

The island itself becomes a MotoGP haven for the week we’re in town and the locals truly welcome us with open arms. Everywhere else that we travel in the world we stay in huge hotels but this place is unique because the majority of teams and press stay in holiday homes. You tend to stay in the same ones year after year, which is another reason why it feels like going home.

The many restaurants, bakeries and cafés on the island make a great effort to dress themselves with Grand Prix ribbons, posters and memorabilia – they even have a competition for the best window display! They open their doors and they open their hearts - some of them have special sections for the riders to eat in on an evening so that they don’t get bothered by fans. Some people decide to cook at home, which is always funny to see – especially in the Eurosport house! The island even has its own climate - let’s just say you can understand why the penguins and the Great Whites like it down there! The weather may be cold but the atmosphere is as warm as you could ever want.

On top of that, Phillip Island has one of THE best road racing circuits in the world. The beauty of it, right there next to the Bass Strait, coupled with the fast corners and elevation changes make it one of the most exciting places to watch racing and we are rarely disappointed. This year was no different and in victory for Casey Stoner, coupled with stunning rides from Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and James Toseland, the fans certainly got their money’s worth. With his dominant victory Stoner probably regained the credibility that even he may have felt that he’d lost in the races since Laguna Seca onwards. He did it in true Stoner style, pressing as hard as he could from the start and this time making it stick.

Sometimes Casey gets stick for his lack of charisma but depending on who’s around him he’s got plenty. It just takes time to reach into him. We’re all built differently but over the last series of races he’s got better all the time. I’ve had to interview him at a couple of sponsor events in front of 200-300 people and especially in front of his home crowd at Phillip Island he was charm personified and he had everybody going.

Casey is sincere when he says he’s here to race, not to be famous or be a star. But whether he likes it or not he creates excitement and adulation as a World Champion and when you are in that position, no matter how you see it, you are an ambassador. It is not a role he asked for but it’s one he has to assume, and he finally seems to be realising that.

Maybe he’s not been the best at it but you have to understand how quickly his world changed, from being a 250cc contender, to a crashing rookie, to a World Champion. It is a huge learning curve and whilst there’s not much left for him to learn on the racetrack he is now starting to learn things off the track that are going to be of great benefit. At the end of the day, you get out of things what you put in.

The final point I have to cover before we head to Malaysia is the one-tyre rule that has been announced for 2009. In many ways it didn’t come as a surprise but it did come after some huge swings behind the scenes that could have seen any number of bike-tyre combinations on the grid next year. The biggest shock came in Japan, when in the middle of discussions Ducati suddenly turned to Michelin.

Ducati had already offered to run their three satellite bikes on the French tyres before Motegi but the most amazing thing is that they decided to offer the factory bikes too, a move Stoner agreed with. Casey felt aggrieved that himself and Ducati had done all the hard work with Bridgestone and now everybody else wanted to take advantage, but he hadn’t forgotten what a great track record Michelin have in this sport, even though they’ve had a tough couple of years. When Ducati switched to Bridgestone everybody thought they were nuts but the thinking behind it this time was exactly the same: to guarantee priority treatment. At this point I think the Grand Prix Commission had been set on a one-tyre rule but Ducati threw a massive spanner in the works.

This one-tyre rule was first mooted a year ago, when Stoner won the championship and Valentino decided that moving to Bridgestone was the only way he could win it back. However, two years previously the three tyre manufacturers (Michelin, Bridgestone and Dunlop) had made a gentleman’s agreement that if there was open competition then there had to be at least a 60-40 share, meaning a minimum of at least eight riders on each kind of tyre.

After Ducati’s surprise move, Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen decided they also wanted to switch to Michelin but Suzuki said ‘no’. As a team, Kawasaki were also keen but the factory hierarchy blocked it and it seemed there was no way of reaching the magic number. However, it was considered that the eight-rider agreement could be waived when Ducati offered to put all five of their riders on Michelin tyres. Ducati’s only condition was that they be given complete exclusivity for three seasons, which Michelin were unable to guarantee. In the end, deadlines were set, Michelin couldn’t commit, and a single-tyre rule was given the vote.

Personally I agree with the rule and I disagree with it. I can’t help but think back to 2004 and seeing Makoto Tamada - a Japanese rider - on a Honda, standing on the top step of the podium at Motegi in a Bridgestone hat. For me, that was one of the great moments in recent MotoGP history and one of the things that makes our sport so unique. Having said that, something needed to be done and once next season gets underway I’m sure the whole debate will be quickly forgotten.

What I’d like to see is the current data wiped out for the teams. I don’t want the teams that have been on Bridgestone right now to know they’re on the same tyre as last year. Everything has to be renumbered so that each team is choosing tyre A, B or C; softness levels 1, 2 or 3. We can’t have a technician saying to Valentino or Casey, “Here you go, this is what worked for you here last year,” and we all have to have faith in Bridgestone that they will do that.

People think the races will be closer but on current form how do you think anybody is going to beat Valentino and Casey unless they are in an extraordinary position? Going back to Tamada, it is probably fair to say that he wasn’t the best rider in the championship, but he sure looked like it when the tyre worked well. With the new rules, I think a surprise winner is going to be much less likely.