Qatar. It's a small Emirate jutting out into the Arabian Gulf on the Northern edge of Saudi Arabia. It's hot, humid and, paradoxically, very dry. It's also extremely flat with the highest naturally occurring point just 40m above sea level. So where else to hold a MotoGP round? The Emir himself commissioned the circuit, which was built specifically with bike racing in mind. It's got a long main straight which should see some staggering speeds, though the high ambient temperatures should contrive to keep engine power down a little. It will certainly be hard on tyres and brakes as well as riders, with fatigue likely to play a major role in deciding the results.

Qualifying saw all sorts of unusual people appearing at the top, albeit sometimes briefly, as everyone struggled to get to grips with a brand new circuit. Neil Hodgson made a foray into the top runners during qualifying, though he eventually got swamped in the last minute scramble for places and eventually dropped to fifteenth. Colin Edwards became the first man to lap in under two minutes, staking his claim at the top of the board but eventually dropping to tenth. Ruben Xaus, though, stormed through and though eventually deposed still managed to hang onto seventh and a third row start, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi. Troy Bayliss also had a great session, ending up ninth, just behind Rossi, while his team mate Capirossi was on the second row having qualified sixth. A great weekend for Ducati, then. And not bad for Yamaha either, with Carlos Checa taking pole from Alex Barros and Sete Gibernau. This was the best qualifying for Barros that anyone here can remember, with Nicky Hayden putting the other Repsol Honda - the proper factory team, remember - on the second row in fourth place. Shinya Nakano continued to shine with an excellent fifth slot on the Kawasaki. Sadly the grid was without Shane Byrne, whose injuries earlier in the season have ruled him out of any more competition this year. Though not particularly serious in real terms, Shakey's wrist injury makes it almost impossible for him to control the bike properly and therefore the best thing for him to do is to sit it out and get properly fit for next year.

During the warm-up something happened that may well change the outcome of the whole championship. As is quite common, it seems, Rossi's team cleaned the track at his starting position. They said this was to give him a marker to aim for during warm-up to get a line for the first corner. Whatever the reality, Race Control deemed this to be inappropriate and penalised Rossi, forcing him to start from the back of the grid.

So when the lights changed it was all aboard for the skylark as Rossi came from twenty first to eighth in the space of less than one lap. Which is really rather impressive. And his progress continued, getting up to fourth place behind Colin Edwards and closing the Texan down before an uncharacteristic and unforced error sent the Italian rider sliding down the track at something over 100mph, shedding bits of bike in all directions. Fortunately Rossi was virtually unscathed but it will have been an unpleasant experience for him. Up at the front, Sete Gibernau was, for once, able to capitalise on Rossi's misfortune and rode a solid race to lead from the front, from the outset and until the end.

Carlos Checa, having set pole, rode brilliantly and was all set for a third place finish when, three laps from the end, his bike expired with the same fuel problem that sidelined Melandri a few laps earlier. Norick Abe was, in fact, the only Yamaha to finish and it is likely that, even if he hadn't crashed out, Rossi's bike would have succumbed to the same overheating problem. Colin Edwards rode shotgun for Gibernau for the whole race, though at times it looked as though he was going to take the lead. A mature and pretty well faultless ride from a man who really deserves the success that has eluded him all season. But third place was another refugee from World Superbikes and one we have seen precious little of all year. Ruben Xaus took an amazing third place on the D'Antin Ducati - last year's factory bike - a long way behind Edwards but a comfortable way ahead of fourth placed Alex barros in his best ride of the year.

Barros should have finished higher but he got caught up in the catastrophic self-disassembly of Nakano's Kawasaki, getting a face full of oil and smoke and being totally unsighted. By the time he rejoined the race he was back in eighteenth so to finish where he did was impressive indeed.

But what of Max Biaggi? Technical problems put him next to arch-rival Rossi at the back of the grid with everything to do. And he did it, too, making as much hay as possible in the Qatar sun to claw his way up to a highly respectable sixth place.

Ducati's weekend, which was looking so good at first, soured somewhat when first Capirossi and then Bayliss retired with engine and tyre problems respectively. Hodgson also retired with mechanical problems, while the other Italian team of Aprilia also scored no points with their sole rider this weekend, Jeremy McWilliams, retiring with mechanical problems.

Good news for both Proton and Harris WCM, though, who each got a rider home in the form of James Hayden and James Ellison respectively. Though at the back of the field they both scored points which can't be sneered at.

So the championship has been closed up again, with just fourteen points between Rossi at the top and Gibernau in second and with seventy five points still up for grabs. Biaggi is still in with a shout as well though he will have to be both incredibly lucky and incredibly fast to win now.

Malaysia often throws up surprises - it's hot and humid and a tough circuit - so the championship is by no means over. The Fat lady sang in World Superbikes today and is now taking a well earned rest before she joins the MotoGP circuit in three races time. Sepang is next week, then Phillip Island in Australia the week after before the long drag back to Europe for the final round in Valencia on 31st October.

I'd hate to be a bookie right now...

Results

1S Gibernau, Honda
2 C Edwards, Honda
3 R Xaus, Ducati
4 A Barros, Honda
5 N Hayden, Honda
6 M Biaggi, Honda
7 N Abe, Yamaha
8 J Hopkins, Suzuki
9 A Hofmann, Kawasaki
10 M Tamada, Honda

Championship Standing after 13 rounds

229 V Rossi
215 S Gibernau
168 M Biaggi
131 C Edwards
128 A Barros
120 M Tamada
102 C Checa
94 N Hayden
84 L Capirossi
75 M Melandri