Looks like Stoner's got them covered

Good question dougie. I think electronics have spoiled the fun. The best analogy I can find is the difference in F-1 this year. No more traction control & the races have been more exciting this year than any I can remember in the last 10. It made the driver a factor & that's what I pay to see. Masters of their craft, plying their trade, where the difference is who uses their talent the best. With electronics you have a battle of engineers instead of riders. If Laguna is a Stoner runaway, it will be about as exciting as watching Stewart lap the field, but this is the pinnacle of 2 wheeled sport, IMO, & still interesting for that reason.

Ducati has always been the HP king in MotoGP, but this year there are fuel restrictions. On the the long tracks, where they should have been faster than the others, they have had to dial it back to finish. Ducati wasn't winning early in the season but the most recent race tracks have been good to them. Honda tried to match their speed with their new pnumatic valve engine & Nicky ran out of gas within sight of the finish line while running third. It's a fine art to balancing that & interesting on a technical level. The more technical tracks, like Laguna, where top speed & fuel consumption aren't a factor, now suit the Ducatis. The Bridgestone tires have a slight advantage as well on shorter tracks.

Valentino Rossi, Colin Edwards, Danny Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden & the rest should make it very competitive. Ben Spies is getting a chance to show his potential to the world in the top class & that should be fun to watch as well.

Throw in AMA Superbike & it's all good. I'm stoked, but I do miss the tire smokin' days of old when the right wrist made the difference.