What an incredible MotoGP race we saw in Barcelona last weekend. It was the first knock ‘em down, drag’ em out battle we’ve seen since Laguna Seca last year and it delivered everything we were denied in that race, with Jorge Lorenzo able to take the fight to Valentino Rossi until the final lap. Having said that, in some ways Laguna was still the more spectacular race for me. The dramatic camber and elevation changes of the circuit make it an even more exciting track to watch racing at than Barcelona and if anything last week’s battle has whet the appetite for the US Grand Prix in a little over a week’s time. This weekend’s Dutch TT is another mouth-watering taster, with Rossi, Lorenzo and Casey Stoner all boasting formidable records at Assen.

I didn’t get chance to see Valentino after the race but I was out at the track for the test on the Monday and he laughed when I told him he had big balls! The truth is that it took more than just balls to make that move in the final corner and he’d been planning it with his team since the previous night. Everybody, even the F1 guys I have spoken to since last Sunday, knows that to make a pass in that corner is extremely difficult and to pull it off you have to be incredibly precise. If you watch the replay in slow motion you can see the front tyre squirming because of load he had to put it under to stop the bike. To have the gall to do it as well as the skill… well, you just have to be Valentino! It was a fair pass, there was no contact and even though it was in Lorenzo’s backyard he still got cheered by the fans, who recognised that whatever your allegiance is you have to respect somebody when you see something like that.

Going back a year to when Jorge crashed during practice and missed the race at Barcelona, his performance was another demonstration of much he has learnt and how much he has grown since then. Even though he was beaten on Sunday, the bad news for Rossi is that he will have learned from that too. At Laguna last season he crashed out on the first lap but there is nothing to suggest the American fans won’t get the opportunity to see him in action over full race distance this time and that is more bad news for Valentino – and great news for us!

Jorge is definitely eccentric but he is so interesting and a great character to have in the paddock. On Saturday evening in the post-qualifying press conference he stopped mid-sentence and waited for Rossi to stop chatting to Hector Barberá, demanding respect from the World Champion. He’s the real deal and Valentino knows it. Right now the Italian is the one looking over his shoulder and it is Lorenzo and Stoner who have him in their sights. Rossi has to keep pulling something new out of his bag of tricks in order to hold the youngsters off and that is going to get harder and harder to do.

It was great to see a light at the end of the tunnel for Nicky Hayden and Ducati in Barcelona, although they know they still have a long way to go to come out the other side. The changes Ducati have made to the Desmosedici definitely look to have the bike turning better – you could see that by watching Stoner, who was able to ride with a style much more similar to the Yamahas than we’ve seen in the past. The difficulty for Nicky is that he has a developed style, having ridden a Honda for so long, whereas a rookie like Mika Kallio – or even Stoner a couple of years ago – is completely new to it. When that bike starts shaking its head it doesn’t matter to them because they don’t know any different, so in other words Nicky needs to forget everything he knows. It is important for Ducati to show their product is the best, not just their rider, and they have taken a step in the right direction but there is a lot of work still to be done.

After six races the championship could not be poised any better. The beat goes on and I can’t wait for Assen. Would you dare to predict who is going to be leading the championship when we leave Laguna Seca on the 5th July? In principal it should be Valentino but I have a feeling it might be one of those pesky kids...

Randy