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.