THE OIL FROM MISANO

by Mark Bracks

Chris Vermeulen attempts fashion. Successfully, we think.

Mr & Mrs Casey Stoner and their bag of BIKE ME! goodness

Before I go any further, I received a couple of parcels from BIKE ME! HQ last week for delivery to Misano. As the photos show they were well accepted and they do appreciate the support.

Rossi & Stoner at pre-event press conference

Brno girls

The weather was extremely bizarre...

Fiat girls

Wet Misano track

Hannspree girls. We'll probably buy some Hannspree, whatever it is. Especially if it's beer.

A week to go before the title may be decided. What a tantalising prospect. It would be a dream if Casey Stoner could do it in front of his home crowd but the championship won't hold that drama for so long. All the same I'm sure he will get an enthusiastic homecoming welcome -- as will our two other Aussies in MotoGP, Chris Vermeulen and Anthony West. I've been saying for a few months now that I think we will have an all-Aussie podium and I've no reason to change my mind.

It's unbelievable how it has all unfolded. The Kurri-Kurri kid is 85 points in front, so if Casey wins at Estoril and Rossi finishes sixth or lower then the title heads down under for the first time in nearly a decade. (Is it that long since Mick had his reign?)

There was a test at Misano after the race and all the Michelin runners were happy with the new product that the French company has come up with. Last year the first Bridgestone runner was John Hopkins in sixth place. It won't be the case this year but Rossi has to try and claw some points back so it should be a good race. Elias loves the place and seeing he is getting back to full fitness after his nasty break at Assen in June he could be a dark horse. The win saved his ride last year and with the Gresini line-up not finalised at this stage he needs a big one to cement his place.

Rossi and his crew have nothing left to lose any more, the championship was out the door after Laguna but if you didn't feel for Rossi at Misano you don't have a pulse. It was really gut-wrenching to see it unfold at his homecoming. We race at Mugello every year but Misano is really his home track as his home town of Tavullia is just up the road in the hills.

Julian Ryder asked me after the race why they would use something still very much untried and said that it was out of character for Jeremy Burgess to do something like that. I said desperate times call for desperate measures and if it didn't work out so what? There is no better test place than in a race so they probably agreed to go for it.

Just a pity it only lasted a few laps as hearing it down the straight on its last flying lap the Yammie sounded like it couldn't rev out properly.

As you'd expect 99.9% of the crowd were going for Rossi and when he slowed you could've heard the espresso machine hiss from Luigi's café up the road -- it really knocked the wind out of them.

Imagine -- in front of your home crowd. What a bitter pill to swallow. It can happen to anyone.

Where Rossi grew up is only about 10 kays away in Tavullia. Hundreds of his fan club marched down en masse on Saturday morning. I had a gander up there in the afternoon and they certainly know how to paint the town yellow!

One of the journos asked Casey on Saturday afternoon if there was anyone walking from his home town to Phillip Island. The look he gave him was just priceless! He did his best to say that Phillip Island was a bit far from his place to walk it -- unless they started now!

The weather was extremely bizarre. On Thursday when we got there it was fairly warm and humid. Woke up Friday to sunny skies with the forecast saying a chance of rain. A chance of rain? Jeez, we nearly ended up in the Adriatic Sea. Haven't seen rain like that for ages and never expected it at a place like Misano but according to the locals it's not that uncommon.

Ironic that in the first session the only crashes were the three Aussies. Didn't take the wags in the paddock long to hit me with "yeah we always knew Aussies couldn't ride in the wet!"

Well I had the last laugh on Sunday when we got an Aussie one-two for the second time in three races -- in the dry. Just think if it wasn't Stoner dominating so much Suzuki could've won the last three races!

It's a bit frustrating to hear people say that Chris is finally starting to get it together when it's dry. I point out to them that he has been able to ride in the dry for a while -- he wasn't too shabby on a Superbike and just remember last year's race at Laguna. He was on pole and led the race for 17 laps before he was forced to slow with a deteriorating bike. Yeah he can't ride in the dry!

And seeing you asked so nicely and I'm a giving sort of guy I have included some pics of the Pit Lane scenery. I think from now on I'll just send pics of girls!!

And I'll even include some from Brno too!

Loris Reggiani had a special day. 20 years ago at Misano Loris gave Aprilia its first GP win taking out the 1987 250cc GP. To mark the occasion Reggiani did a lap on the immaculate machine but at the last moment turned the bike around so he could ride the track the old way. He wasn't too popular with the officials.

The 125 class is the only one that going to go down to the wire as Lorenzo should wrap up his second 250 title in the next few weeks. I like the antics he gets up to. Just like Rossi did. The outfit he had on was the gladiator outfit from the Russell Crowe movie. Should be interesting to see what happens next year if they are sharing the same garage.

The pair actually shared a joke at the Saturday afternoon press conference when a reporter asked Lorenzo if he had any worries about joining Yamaha with the bike in the situation it is. He said "I hope so" to which Rossi added "I hope so too." But on the other hand although they were sitting next to each other before that little scene they hadn't looked at each other, let alone speak as more than one journo remarked.

There was a meeting of tyre manufacturers again at Misano to try and nut out an improved rule for next year. I think there will be meetings at every race until the end of the year.

There won't be a control tyre and any argument for that might've gone out the window if they saw the Superbike race from Germany on the weekend. Even with a control tyre things can go pear shaped as they did for Troy Bayliss and James Toseland in the first race. What will probably happen for next year is an increase in the allocation.

Well it's the start of a hectic three weeks. From Estoril some of us go straight to Japan while others like myself come back to Barca for a day then head over. Unlike many after Motegi I head home while all the rest come back to Spain and then head out again to do PI and Malaysia back-to-back.

Hope to catch you around the traps

Hoo roo!

Bracksy