Mugello, in the heart of the beautiful Tuscany countryside, is fast, flowing and technically demanding. It's just down the road from the Ducati factory and it's almost in Valentino Rossi's back garden. Rossi hasn't failed to win here since 2002, and uniquely I suspect, all three riders to have won here this century are still on the grid - Rossi, Alex Barros and millenium winner Loris Capirossi. But enough trivia, suffice it to say that Mugello is a genuinely outstanding circuit but its combination of a stupidly fast straight, off camber downhill bends and elevation changes galore make for a challenge for both riders and suspension gurus. Of course, one thing that you can always rely on in the arid heart of Italy is consistent weather, which makes it easier for tyre choices.

Except that this year things seem to be going slightly awry in that direction. Great news to the local farmers and viticulturalists, of course, but the co-incident arrival of torrential rain and the MotoGP circus made for some furrowed brows in pit boxes up and down the circuit. The net result was that there were only two dry practice and qualifying sessions, both of which were dominated by Dani Pedrosa, while the first round ot the eagerly anticipated and long awaited Stoner/Rossi shootout went to the championship leader as Rossi slid off on Friday afternoon. And though the Italian was second fastest, snapping at the heels of the diminutive Honda rider through both dry sessions, when crunch time came and qualifying started the heavens opened and it all got messy. Not lesat because it didn't rain consistently, and Mugello is blessed with brilliant surface drainage which allows the track to dry really fast. So when the lottery of who went out when and on what was finally decided, Casey Stoner's Ducati was sat on pole position, just ahead of the acknowledged wet weather genius (actually all weather genius but the wet is more of a power leveller) Chris Vermeulen and his Suzuki, with Valentino Rossi third. Olivier Jacque, quick in the rain but about as welcome (and unpredictable) in the pack as a grenade with the pin missing, headed up the second row on the Kawasaki, with Loris Capirossi fifth and Marco Melandri sixth. Randy de Puniet put the second Kawasaki on the front of the third row, ahead of Dani Pedrosa who really doesn't like the rain and John Hopkins who got caught out by the changing conditions. Alex Barros rounded out the top ten on the privateer D'Antin Ducati.

Of course, and it's becoming an expression that I wheel out every race report, qualifying and racing are two different creatures. And race day proved this to be the case in more ways than one, as the sun came out and dried the track out and everyone scratched their heads some more and wondered what the heck to do now. Just to keep people on their toes, a few large sinister clouds hung around looking portentious but that's all they did. So after a dry warmup dominated yet again by Dani Pedrosa, this time with a rejuvenated John Hopkins riding shotgun, it was time to lineup on the grid. Oh, and now the track was quite a lot warmer, too. Did I say quite a lot warmer? OK, so the track temperature had gone from a chilly sixteen degrees to a distinctly warm twenty nine. And that, folks, spelled loads of trouble and even more head scratching for the tyre boffins. Especially as the new rules meant that they had to have essentially made their choice on Friday...

So. Lights out and Stoner, Vermeulen and Capirossi took off like scalded cats while Rossi made a complete pig's ear of things and shot backwards down the field. Marco Melandri made a blinding start, as did Alex Barros, though the Brazilian was unable to make it stick, dropping back as John Hopkins started carving his way through the field, relegating Rossi back to eighth on the way through. Lap one was fairly static after the first few shuffles, finishing with Stoner, Capirossi and Vermeulen leading Melandri, Barros, Pedrosa and Rossi. Hopkins waited until just after the start of lap two to make his move at the end of the straight, while up at the front a particularly determined Melandri slipped by Vermeulen. The young Australian kept fighting though, putting up spirited resistance despite his lack of experience at the circuit which ultimately worked against him.

Up at the front, the massive and fiercely patriotic crowd

Italian MotoGP Results

1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
3. Alex Barros (Ducati)
4. Casey Stoner (Ducati)
5. John Hopkins (Suzuki)
6. Toni Elias (Honda)
7. Loris Capirossi (Ducati)
8. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki)
9. Marco Melandri (Honda)
10.Nicky Hayden (Honda)

MotoGP standings (after six rounds)

1. Casey Stoner 115
2. Valentino Rossi 106
3. Daniel Pedrosa 82
4. Marco Melandri 68
5. Chris Vermeulen 63
6. John Hopkins 59
7. Loris Capirossi 47
8. Toni Elias 45
9. Alex Barros 43
10. Colin Edwards 39

SB