So the 2009 motogp season has started. There are hardly any surprises so far:

1. Rossi topped the first Jerez test.

Point to note is that Stoner was absent. Yamaha seems to have
done an excellent job with their 2009 machine.

2. Edwards is on the pace and has started praising the
Yamaha M1 no end.

Dejavu, anyone? Think back to the beginning of the 2007 season.
Let's see a win, Colin. But you are a great guy.

3. Stoner topped the second test at Sepang, albeit by a
narrow margin

Stoner did not fare well at Sepang in 2008, too. Not quite
surprisingly he refused to accept his lack of speed and
blamed his wrist injury.

I've been following Stoner's interviews since the beginning
of his career, and he is very strangely incapable of admitting
that he was slow on a particular day, and prefers to seek out
an altogether different reason.

4. Stoner has started strongly at the third test at Qatar
and is leading the test times by 0.6 seconds with one
more day to go.

Again, not surprising. Rossi had a torrid time at Qatar in 2008,
thanks to a total lack of setup information. Having the first day
rain-swept did not help either.

Watch out for Rossi to halve the gap by the third day.

5. Stoner's laptime is way ahead of anything that anybody
else has been able to wring out that Ducati.

Love him or hate him, you got to admit that the guy's the fastest
out there.

To be honest i'm (becoming) a big fan of his speed, but certainly
not of his attitude or character.