Brno in the Czech Republic is, as you have no doubt read here before, a great circuit. One of the original road race tracks, Brno has adapted itself over the years to improve safety and rideability while managing not to lose the character that made the place so special in the beginning. That the swooping layout maes for great racing as well is just an added bonus.

Over a hundred and forty thousand fans turned up over the weekend, with all sorts of weather joining them. There were thunderstorms, heavy rain and even the odd sunny spell with extreme temperatures. This being mid season, the rumour mill is in full swing. And while Valentino Rossi's long rumoured departure from Yamaha to Ducati was confirmed, others are still circulating. Is Ben Spies going to replace Rossi? Will Cal Crutchlow come up from SBK to slot into Spies' seat? Could Cal and Colin Edwards swap rides as Spies and Toseland did last year? Well, it can keep us guessing for a while, anyway.

Qualifying brought a few crashes with Bautista going to hospital for scans. Lorenzo and Pedrosa had an on-track disagreement about who was going to use which bit of track, and Hayden was looking good until he crashed and chipped a chunk off his left radius (that's the small bone in the forearm) at the wrist. Spies took provisional pole while Lorenzo and Rossi both fell off their bikes, but Pedrosa took pole in the last two minutes of the session, pushing Stoner and Rossi further down the grid and keeping Lorenzo at third. So that gave us Pedrosa, Spies and Lorenzo on the front row. Stoner, Rossi and Dovzioso on row two with Edwards leading Hayden (racing despite his injury) and Barbera on row three. Loris Capirossi qualified tenth ahead of de Puniet and Simoncelli. Alvaro Bautista just sneaked in to qualfying, having ridden fast enough in a practice session to make it through. Otherwise he'd have had the ignominy of failing to qualify, which isn't really the done thing on a factory bike.

Race day dawned wet and windy, though the weather office predicted a change for the race. Which kept everyone on their toes. . Warmup saw Dovizioso stake a claim to glory, going fastest with Stoner and Pedrosa tied but over a second behind as they missed the dry window at the beginning of the session. Spies and Rossi were at the back of the grid being cautious in the difficult and unpredictable conditions. So, even more than usual, warmup meant nothing at all. Especially as the weather changed shortly afterwards.

By the time the riders were getting ready to come out and race, the sky had cleared and the sun was shining. More than that, the breeze dried the track off as effectively as could possibly be hoped for, so the tarmac was completely dry - no puddles or susprising patches of damp to catch out the unwary or overconfident.

Lights out and as usual Pedrosa got a lightning start with Spies hanging onto his coat tails and Lorenzo dropping into third. But before the first lap was out Lorenzo had pushed through into the lead, passing both Pedrosa and Spies when Pedrosa ran wide, also allowing Spies to slip through. Rossi, having started on the second row, dropped back to eighth by the end of the first lap after a poor start while at the other end of the startline success scale Randy de Puniet started to carve his way up the field, despite breaking his tibia just four weeks ago. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the biggest difference between Rossi and other, mortal, riders. Rossi doesn't need to rush back to keep his ride. The man has nothing to prove. To anyone.

The second lap saw Pedrosa make a spririted attempt to take second from Spies and finally made it with an aggressive but fair block-pass. Stoner tried to follow through but Spies was having none of it and slammed the door firmly in the Australian's face. Further back, Valentino Rossi clearly has a problem as he is unable to hold off Marco Simoncelli, who is good but not that good. Capirossi's weekend also turned from bad to horrible. A start-line collision with another rider knocked his clutch lever out of position and the veteran rider had to slow right down and hammer it back into line with his hand before he could work it properly (MotoGP bikes have quickshifters to change up but many riders still use the clutch going back down) and ended up last. Getting himself sorted, the Suzuki rider went for it and had passed four riders and was heading up the field when he lost the front braking for turn twelve and slid out on just the second lap.

Lorenzo, meantime, was managing to open a bit of a gap between himself and Pedrosa, while Spies was hanging on close to the Honda and still keeping Stoner at bay as well. The boy definitely has potential. Lap four saw the unscheduled departure of Andrea Dovizioso, losing the front and sliding out unhurt but ending up in the middle of the track with his bike. Though the marshalls reacted very quickly, the Italian was extremely lucky not to get hit by another bike.

In the next couple of laps Pedrosa closed right up on Lorenzo and it looked as though there was a real race on. But no, Lorenzo had either been preserving his tyres or playing head games. Or perhaps he genuinely had a problem. Whatever it was, from under a tenth of a second lead, Lorenzo managed to stretch out a gap of over a second just five laps later. Further back, Rossi had regrouped and passed Hayden for fifth place. That was on lap six, and it's how the positions remained for the rest of the race. With three notable exceptions. Mika Kallio crashed out, unhurt, on lap eight. One lap later, Casey Stoner passed Ben Spies in one of the neatest overtakes we've seen all season. And on the final turn of the final lap, Alvaro Bautista, who is performing miracles just by being here after his monumental practice crash, got a run into the corner to pass Marco Simoncelli but then lost the front and went to play in the gravel with his veteran team-mate. A poor return for a brave effort.

So there we have it. In all honestly a rather disappointing and static race. It seems we're at the stage at the moment of wondering less whether Lorenzo will win but rather by how far. And at this stage of the season it's a sad state of affairs when the gossip about who might be going here or there is more interesting than the racing.

We're back to the USA next as we return to Indianapolis. Racing there has been varied, but at least it's never been really boring. Here's hoping...

LYB

Czech MotoGP Results

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
3. Casey Stoner (Ducati)
4. Ben Spies (Yamaha)
5. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
6. Nicky Hayden (Ducati)
7. Colin Edwards (Yamaha)
8. Marco Melandri (Honda)
9. Hector Barbera(Ducati)
10. Randy de Puniet (Honda)

MotoGP standings (after ten rounds)

1. Jorge Lorenzo 235
2. Dani Pedrosa 158
3. Casey Stoner 119
4. Andrea Dovizioso 115
5. Valentino Rossi 101
6. Nicky Hayden 99
7. Ben Spies 90
8. Randy de Puniet 75
9. Marco Melandri 61
10. Colin Edwards 57