Coming up soon: the world goes to Texas

Just to get it out there right away, let's please all hope that the MotogGP debut of the new US circuit goes smoother than when racing returned in 2005 to Laguna Seca. Shockingly embarrassing; the riders, highly attuned to global affairs, chose to observe a minute of silence to respect the victims of the very recent bombings in London. As they gathered and stood silently at the start line, the PA droned on and on, then horrors introduced whomever it was that then began to sing the national anthem. Off key. Stopping midway because he forgot the words. Yeah. Classy.

The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) will be another race of mystery like Qatar in that the free practice sessions and the qualifying process will continue to be unsettlingly novel for the riders. While it's clear those riders who expect to find themselves in the final Q2 session will have done some soul searching (with their teams) already, the near total unfamiliarity of a new track will add tremendous pressure to FP3, as tire selection and gearing will not be a simple adjustment, and the best lines are proving to be elusive, especially on the unusually sharp hairpins much more suited for Formula 1 driving.

Add the fact that COTA is longer that Losail (5.5km versus 5.4km) and the qualifying sessions will be even more challenging for riders to get more than three or four quality flying laps in; traffic jams that cost both Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi valuable grid placements. OK, they both made up for it, I'll avoid speculation, but they both got caught out by traffic in Q2 and could not post their best laps.

The first free practice session starts Thursday 18 April and will be a brand new experience for the majority of the grid. If you haven't seen the track there are some highlights especially the end of the grandstand straight into turn one, sweeping uphill and into a tricky left hander at the summit, a four-apex right-hander, and odd kinks throughout the second half of the circuit.

I'm pretty sure most of the riders will feel a great deal of relief when they return to Europe in May for Jerez, where nearly all the teams and riders will have ridden countless times in testing and races, with a much shorter track (4.4km) possibly meaning more complete laps during the 15 minute qualifying dashes.

Qatar: Pre-Race Summary

The first qualifiers for MotoGP 2013 are over and what an odd, exciting new format. Cut to the chase, there were some surprises for sure. Both Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez never quite got a chance in the end to clear out and run their best qualifier lap; Rossi seems to have learned a lesson about timing this new 15 minute scramble for grid spots as he's stuck heading up the third row in seventh.

Another ironic twist in the opening of the season is that Andrea Dovisioso managed to come to terms with the factory Ducati and timed his qualifying lap well - and he's landed himself fourth on the grid. Once again the unsung and somewhat acharismatic Dovisioso quietly and undramatically turns in the usual A- work, anonymously padding the list of top talent. Doing it on the Ducati however may be the very thing that calls attention to himself as it puts him in terribly stark contrast with Rossi who could never tame the Desmosedici. It was a little frightening watching Dovi in the practice sessions, that bike just bucks its way out of every corner for everyone like it did for Casey Stoner the whole season.

Other notes - Dani Pedrosa looked like he was having a terrible time throughout all of the qualifying practices but in Q2 he found a magic setup change and a clear space and grabbed the last spot on the front row. Cal Crutchlow remains ridiculously fast and only Jorge Lorenzo could manage to carve out a more perfect lap. Crutchlow is going to get some attention this year, he's in great form, we can only hope Yamaha decides to keep investing in Tech3 Monster bikes instead of letting the satellite languish as the season wears on.

And talk about anonymous, Stefan Bradl managed to nick fifth on the grid ahead of both Márquez and Dovi, let's hope Bradl finally gets a podium finish this year.

Rossi finds himself in an odd third row too, as he's sharing it with Álvaro Bautista and Bradley Smith - Bautista with a crushed left hand and a crushed spirit going into the first race; he seems like he's suffering from fate being against him although it's nothing like the fate that's been stacked against the hapless Ben Spies who in the final practice today had his front tire mysteriously dive out from underneath him in a left hander and dumped him right onto his right shoulder, the one that wasn't quite healing fast enough from a fracture, keeping him just out of the running for the big boys qualifier and leaving him beat up and (of course) 13th on the grid.

Smith had an unprecedented lap that snuck him up into the final ten yesterday, and today he again showed some fine rookie form where before he was in danger of disappearing amongst the CRTs. Props also to rookie Andrea Iannone fresh out of Moto2 who rode the satellite (they call it "junior Ducati" which just seems unfair) Desmosedici faster than even veteran Nicky Hayden could manage on his factory prototype. It'd be good to see Crazy Joe bring his antics to the big time, ruffle some feathers.

Lastly before it gets too deep into the mire, watch out for those Espargaro brothers! Aleix champed his way into Q2 after dominating the Q1scrap for a place in the back and although finishing twelfth of 12 he's still beyond the rest of the "second race" and spearheading the threat to the slower prototypes. And if you want a terrific stunning qualifier lap just watch the Moto2 QP...

Sum it up? I think that 2013 is going to be a year of major personality conflicts, both on and off the track. Tons of talent, everyone fast and grouped together up in factory land, and no sign of sprawling lonely races in the future. Lots of egos and a whole host of interesting political dynamics - new punks, unexpected contenders, the return of a brilliant and charismatic champion, a Spanish armada - let's hope they all stay healthy and the season lives up to its very, very considerable promise!

Qatar starts this Thursday

It's almost time for the first Grand Prix of the new season and it all starts on the moon, more or less, what with the Losail International Circuit in the middle of the desert in Dubai and the race run at night since 2008. Losail first hosted MotoGP in 2004 but it was so hot in the day that they built out a massive array of floodlights; last year at night it was still 27C/80F.

There was a certain amount of anticipation last year but in retrospect this year looks much more interesting. Last year was the first year of the CRT, the first new season without Marco Simoncelli, Casey Stoner defending his 2011 title after his dominating first season on the Repsol Honda, and the beginning of what was looking like a gloomy year for Valentino Rossi fans, year two on the challenging Ducati.

The 2012 race in retrospect was a little disappointing; Casey Stoner with all the promise and pole position, late in the race faded with arm pump, and got swallowed by the predictable and tenacious Jorge Lorenzo and by Dani Pedrosa only just beginning a season he'd later dominat. Nicki Hayden looked good in practice sessions and landed a surprising fifth on the grid (surprising in retrospect now given the upcoming difficulties for Ducati throughout the rest of the 2012) and finished sixth, and Rossi seemed miserable from the start, qualifying 12th and wrestling the bike the whole race including at least one off excursion..

This year we have a lot to look forward to.

• We know what CRTs are like now, and we know the Aprilias and Aleix Espargaro are strong but unlikely to ever threaten the podium; that mystery has turned into a good story, and we know that the edge between the slowest prototype riders and the fastest CRTs can easily be breached.
• Now that Stoner's officially gone there's a whole new leaders game. Lorenzo knows he's the defending champion but lost to Pedrosa 6 of the last 8 races last season. Pedrosa is quietly confident and clearly top of the charts fast. But now there are two aliens joining that fray. Rossi the trickster now knows to take nothing for granted, shaving off any hubris he might be burdened by, and he's still got all kinds of potential clearly shown by the pres-season testing, but finally on a bike he can love. And then add Marc Márquez who last year in Qatar rode an aggressive and controversial race to begin a year of triumph in Moto2. Pol Esparagaro will not miss him this season.
• And I should mention the new qualifying rules will be in effect (explained here) which adds a little pre-race color as well. But mostly:
• Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Rossi, and Márquez

First qualifier for MotoGP starts this Thursday.