Moody Blues: Jerez.

[R1 Biker]

All countries will have a different view of Jerez. The Italians will say it was wonderful as their own bike won the race with an Italian rider; not something that could have been said of if Rossi had won. The Japanese should be happy because the right Hondas in their eyes are back at the sharp end. Other Japanese should be happy as their tyres won everything. Pole, fastest lap and won the race. The Spanish are happy because of the ever advancing machine that is Pedrosa. Finally they have a Spanish rider back on a Repsol Honda at the front for the first time since Alex Criville. But there's a cheeky feeling that even the Italians were happy to see Rossi on the back foot for the first time in a while.

Biaggi winning at Suzuka 1998 was news because it was not only a rookie win, but the first time a Repsol Honda had not won a race for 19 months. There is no fun in seeing a rout of total domination after some years, and now that Rossi has proven that he is the package and that the bike isn't, we are no longer surprised by what he can do. Although I am yet to be convinced with his real pace in a 2006 F1 car with a V8 (less torque than the restricted V10 he drove in Valencia, which is by all accounts easier to drive), there really isn't much else on track we should be surprised about. Seven dwarfs aside.

That's why it was perversely good to see him on the back foot over the weekend. With thanks to an exploding d'Antin Ducati on Saturday afternoon, his weekend went from bad to worse like nothing he has previously experienced in MotoGP. Sure, he was 15th in Valencia 2005 (trashed bike in qualifying), and last on the grid in Qatar 2004 (protested to back of grid with Biaggi), but at least his machine was perfectly OK in both instances to fight through the order.

This Spanish weekend just gone was no joke for him, the crew, Yamaha nor Michelin. Rossi admitted on Sunday evening that if he hadn't hit the deck at the first corner, he'd have been "fighting for the max with Hayden, not for the victory". For this to happen at a race track he admits to love is bizarre.

There has obviously been a straw that has broken the camel's back to induce the chattering that saw him struggle at the test a fortnight ago and over this weekend. I am no engineer, but have the Japanese introduced something that is newer, and in their minds automatically better, leaving them with the age old problem of pride in refusing to return to the 2005 package that worked. Wouldn't be the first time. (Proved as they tested it on Monday.)

One fact that is un-arguable is that the fastest Yamaha on Sunday was the Dunlop Yamaha of Carlos Checa! So that proves there's something going on under the Edwards bike too; matter hardly helped by the fact that 50 minutes of Friday afternoon was wasted when it was discovered that his rear tyre was over inflated.

Rossi was a little rich on Sunday when he said that Elias was a bit over the top at turn one. "He's young, Spanish, first race with Honda so he had some pressure for sure... but I say I hope it's the first and the last time."

I asked Valentino if there was pressure on him in Motegi last year when he put Marco Melandri in hospital with an 'optimistic' braking manoeuvre similar to Elias' at Jerez. He stuttered for a moment before referring back to Sunday's mistake by Elias. "I know exactly, this is racing. Toni came to my box after the race to offer his hand to me and the mechanics saying sorry. I never have something strong against him... I never... It's racing. It happens to me, happens to..."

He may be a seven time world champion, but he does need reminding at times that mistakes by other riders do happen - and I wonder how many riders would have crawled under the Yamaha garage door after the race when it was only open by 3 feet to go and apologise to the mechanics, let alone the rider.

Anyway, Rossi had only a little chatter at only two places on the Qatar race track during the last test there, so it'll be interesting to see what tyres work at Qatar out of the sea freight containers that were shipped off weeks ago.

With Ducati on pole there last year and Bridgestone keen to increase their performances at the slippery surface tracks such as Catalunya (catastrophic disaster last year), Donington and by their own admittance, Qatar, it'll be fascinating to see who can fight the tyre war fight the best, but you fancy that Rossi will just disappear...

What Bridgestone did have at Jerez is one hell of a qualifying tyre that even surprised them. A new shape was particularly helpful for them. "Our tyres - like any - drop off a little in the race, but our aim is to keep the drop off on a plateau and not let it fall off a cliff come the end of the race."

Just going back half a day, Rossi's weekend was obviously hindered by the Saturday crash on the oil of Hoffman, but the really frightening thing is that there were 30 seconds between the German walking away from his smoking Duke, to Rossi arriving on his arse. Even if the marshals could not tell it had dropped oil, why did Hoffman not tell them to get the flags out? There was even more time before the lemmings then arrived with KRJR, De Puniet, Nakano and Melandri in a very expensive tip. Thank the lord no-one was hurt in such an avoidable situation.
Pedrosa is now the Honda Golden Child in the top class. They haven't had a Golden Child since Kato... They've obviously nicked all the young small riders and helped some people. Just how did Lucio Cecchinello find the money to pay for that bike? They must have bamboozled the rules through for 800cc, just as they did with the 4 and 5 cylinder weight limit being the same. It can't have been a co-incidence.

Fundamentally, if a rider is quick, he is quick and Honda have seen that in Pedrosa, Elias, Melandri and Stoner. To a certain extent they thought that of Hayden, but they've kicked him aside with Pedrosa after his three years in the works team. Hayden must feel over the moon. How long until he leaves? Monday after Valencia? Why didn't Honda take Vermeulen when they had the chance? I hope Chris can prove Big Red wrong.

The guy you've got to feel sorry for is Sete Gibernau. He left Jerez last year already broken but with 20 points. This year he could easily have been on the podium, but instead left with no points at all

Jeremy McWilliams was enjoying himself after a few days testing the BMW MotoGP bike in Spain during the week. "Tobe, don't even bother asking me about it as I have a £100,000 fine clause in my contract with them…"

Local papers on Monday in Andalucia were dominated by the Grand Prix, but for all the wrong reasons. Even two Spanish wins were reduced to the bottom of the page as the main pictures were of the complete and utter incompetence of the local Police. With millions of Euros having been spent on a new dual carriageway to the door of the track, things were even worse than any other years, even though give or take the odd donkey and mangy dog, the same numbers were on the door as 2004.

Hard shoulders were used as parking lots by the locals, as enormous fields were left untouched within 100 metres from the main gate. It seems to be that the organisers have got the 'we've got loads of punters so what's the problem' syndrome. Indeed many of the Dorna big wigs would not see the problems either as their hotel was within walking distance of the track.

Silverstone used to hold the mantle of the worst F1 race to get in and out of, until Bernie Ecclestone had to mix with us riff-raff due to fog grounding all the helicopters back in 2000. Surprisingly it was after then that there was pressure applied for the A43 road to be widened. The same needs to happen at Jerez one year. One seasoned F1 journalist said it was the worst traffic he'd ever seen, including Mansell Mania Silverstone and Monaco.

It would be a shame to lose the place from the calendar as it is one of the best races for the Championship to have, but we are now well into the 21st Century and paying punters have got too much choice for their already spare time.

Maybe there have already been discussions as early as Sunday between Dorna and Pedro Pacheco of the local government as he was not allowed onto the podium on race day, formerly a done deal. I can just hear Carmelo Ezpeleta growly voice now. The papers took offence to Pacheco not appearing on the podium, but this is not the first time that he has courted trouble on the podium. The legend has it that Ecclestone banned him from the F1 race podium in 1997, but he still appeared. Not a wise move.

It was unreal in this day and age that a 10km journey took over 2 hours on Saturday night from the track into town, and that there would be death and destruction within 300 metres of the circuit entrance on Sunday morning. But at least the 'security' guards had the resources to tow a colleague's fully accredited car from the media car park on Sunday and dump it in the midst of the main entrance for the public just to make it even more congested!

It was amateur mess and someone's head needs to roll.

Italian TV had an easy Saturday with highlights of 125 and 250 qualifying plus the whole hour of MotoGP going out with no commentary due to a strike amongst TV journalists. "It happens all of the time..." said one relaxed TV pundit on Saturday evening.