With Spanish riders having dominated the podium in all three classes in Japan, local hopes were high for a clean sweep at Jerez – especially with Alvaro Bautista and Jorge Lorenzo travelling home on the back of outstanding victories at Motegi. However, it proved to be a reverse scenario, with Hiroshi Aoyama gaining revenge over Bautista, Lorenzo crashing out with a handful of laps to go and Bradley Smith blowing away Julian Simon and the rest of the Spaniards in the 125cc class with a stunning ride.

For me it was the first time I’d been to Jerez in many years without having television commitments on race day so I was able to watch from trackside and enjoy the incredible atmosphere. It struck me that when Valentino Rossi passed Dani Pedrosa there was a huge roar from the crowd and when I turned around I was surprised to see so many smiling faces and yellow t-shirts. Far from showing their anger at him for passing a home rider for the lead, they were willing him on to victory!

The respect Valentino shows for Dani and Jorge is reciprocated by their fans and the legend he has sealed at Jerez with eight wins there in all classes is secure. Those fans don’t care what country he’s from, they care that he always puts on a show and they love him because essentially he is one of them. Contrary to what some people think, the showmanship is no charade. Valentino thrives on the atmosphere and he loves to be the conductor of the orchestra. How could he not?

I was also trackside during qualifying when Lorenzo took pole position, whilst Rossi was struggling to even make it onto the front row. Jorge was getting the bike turned and opening the throttle in exactly the right places, and whilst Vale couldn’t quite find a perfect set-up for that session he was very much in the groove by Sunday. His team did a great job overnight whilst Jorge was affected by the change in track temperature. It shows the extent to which this season will be a battle for set-up, as much for jostling for positions in the race. The engineers need to make sure that the electronics are dialled in from turn to turn – the evidence is in the post-session debriefs, when the riders spend fifteen minutes talking with the suspension guys and another hour analysing the electronics.

The championship will be decided in favour of the guys who know how to accept second place, or fourth as the case may occasionally be. There are four guys who will be running at the front every race and each one of them needs to know when it is their turn to take their place at the back of the group. They cannot afford to get carried away by emotion, which is what happened to Lorenzo on Sunday, when he let the crowd and euphoria get to him – he admitted it himself.

Rossi will dig deep at Mugello, as Stoner will at Phillip Island, but if either of them sees that they can’t find the perfect set-up and the other guy is too strong they will reluctantly take the points. Valentino accepted second place in Japan and Qatar and Casey was resigned to conceding the final podium spot to Lorenzo at Jerez until the crash. Casey knew that fourth place would have been a huge bonus compared to last year’s disaster, so to take third felt more like a win. His better circuits are yet to come.

The tactics required to win a World Championship have changed slightly. This year it is not just about trying to win every weekend. More than ever, the characteristics of the machine and the rider’s style are going to be decisive from track to track – especially with the reduced set-up time in practice. Sometimes riders will have to accept that winning is just not possible and they will have to know when to take a hit. It is important that Jorge learns this lesson fast, if he wants to stay in the chase.

My congratulations go to Bradley Smith and the Aspar team for a resounding first win on what was Bradley’s 50th Grand Prix appearance. Aspar has a great reputation for bringing Spanish riders through but they have always been a very open team in terms of signing up talent from other countries. They don’t care where you’re from (just ask Gabor Talmasci!) - for them it is a case of signing riders who will win races for their sponsors.

It has been a strange start to the season for Brad. In Qatar he got a bad start and was down in tenth but had fought his way up to fourth by the time the red flag came out on the third lap, when the results were decided on the previous lap and he was given fifth. Japan turned into a complete gamble in for everybody because of the wet track and it was one of the most dramatic races I can remember, with Danny Webb leading for most of the way on rain tyres, Julian Simon coming through to lead on intermediates and then Andrea Iannone making a late charge for the win on slicks. Bradley had definite podiums in him at each of those races but finally we had three dry sessions at Jerez and the race took place in ‘normal’ conditions. Having said that I don’t think anybody expected him to be as strong as he was. His race pace was in the low 1’47s but even when he slowed to the high ‘47s he was still pulling away by a second per lap and he said even that felt too slow!

I remember thinking after my first win at Zolder that I wanted to race the next day and that is exactly how Brad is feeling now, although he has to wait for almost two weeks until we go to Le Mans. He has finished on the podium there a couple of times before and there is no reason why he can’t race at the front again. The team he is working with, in terms of his mechanics and engineers, is the same as he had at Polaris World last year but they are now imbedded into a structure with years of experience of winning championships in the 125cc and 250cc classes. Brad always felt he could do it but this win is like the first stamp in his passport. Now he knows he can travel a long way.

I’m really looking forward to France, which I expect to be a scrap for set-up once again between the ‘big four’. Out of all of them I think Dani Pedrosa is the man with the biggest task because he has a lot of work to do on that Honda to find a set-up that will allow more simplified way of riding it.

The question is, where is the second Honda? For that matter, where is the second Ducati? Those bikes don’t suit everybody so it is more complicated to get the best out of them. Dani led the championship up until Germany last year so we’re going to racetracks he’s always been fast at, whereas Casey will be stronger in the second half of the year, but whenever either of those two struggles it will spell trouble for anybody on the same bike.

Like I say, next weekend will all come down to finding a set-up quickly and the extra 15 minutes that will be tagged onto each session will be important. It is not about getting more track time in – it is about having the opportunity to come in during the session, download information and make the right changes to the bike without the rush. This will be of benefit to everybody.

Randy