Some things are just better in the dark. Like the short fat girl at the disco who knows, deep in her blubber encased overstrained heart, that when the cruel daylight reveals her true outer shell she'll be once again be transformed from Beyoncé to Beth Ditto.
Qatar, in all its glory, is the short fat girl - and this one's covered in sand. It's a circuit like no other. Mainly thanks to the fact that no other ridiculous location has yet found the cash to persuade (read: bribe) the powers that be that actually it is a good idea to race a race there.
So the opening round of the 2008 MotoGP season will be run in the desert. But, uniquely, it'll be held at night. Why? Well the official reason is that running a night race will be a lot cooler than one run through the day. Of that there is no doubt. Who could ever have predicted that it may be hot in the middle of a desert through the day?
The unofficial reason for the night race, however, is to hide the fat girl. No one ever turns up to watch the Qatar race. Why would they? The main grandstand is a two-metre garden bench. The spectator car park has space for two full sized camels. The PA is a man who sits between the two spectators and gives his personal opinion on what he thinks might be happening.
All in all this looks bad on TV…unless you hide it.
Luckily for all the track itself will be well lit. Five trillion watts of cheapo electricity will be banged through the many floodlights to give, so the brochure says, lighting as good as the daytime. Take that environmentalists. Which all leads us back questioning "why don't they then run it through the day….oh yeah…cos it's in the middle of the desert…"
So who'll win the Paris to Qatar rally? The wise man would say Casey Stoner. But who would the simpleton pick? You know the guy who's based his prediction on the pre-season babbling and has been confidently betting on Edwards each year to win. Well he'd probably pick Stoner too.
The cocky little Aussie has been awesome pre-season. And if you're a clown and want to claim "Oh…but testing means nothing…" then please go put a large bet on Melandri to win before stating your statement.
At least it will be moderately interesting to see the riders out in action again whilst constantly thinking 'which team has the black bikes again'?
More interesting though (and most things are, Pedrosa excepted) is the mouth-watering prospect of the rookie of the year. Last season a Frenchie won it. He was the only rookie and therefore won it by default. This sums up excellently the 2007 season.
But this season we've four real flyers, each with something to prove:-
Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team): He wants to prove he can rule the world.
James Toseland (Tech 3 Yamaha Team): He wants to prove that a classical pianist can mix it with the normal people
Alex De Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini): He wants to prove that mental illness is nothing to be scared of*
Andrea Dovizioso (Jir Scot Team): He wants to prove he's as good as Lorenzo.
Hopefully this brave new breed, along with young stars like De Puniet, may make 2008 an interesting season. But then again I was optimistic this time last year.
* Not from his point of view anyway
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