Mamola: Sete's free of HRC

The warm-up prior to the afternoon races always gives an indication on who has got the race pace to challenge for victory, and upon analysing the lap charts for all the riders, it is clear that Sete Gibernau is definitely the most consistent going into the opening Grand prix of the season.

Gibernau, who was on course to win last year's race before losing out to Valentino Rossi in the final corner, was the only rider to complete an eight lap stint within the low 1min 41sec bracket. Team-mate Loris Capirossi showed equal consistency but with lap times in the high 1min 41sec barrier.

The Spaniard has also the appearance of a relaxed rider this season after three years at Honda, and Eurosport Commentator Randy Mamola believes that the pressure that came with the job at HRC - particularly the demand of beating Rossi - was simply too much for him.

"I think that Gibernau is a lot more relaxed coming into this season," starts Mamola, "because one of the problems that you have when you are a Honda rider is that you are sitting in your garage and you are constantly looking from left to right to see who has a better Honda than you, who has the HRC logos on the side of the fairings, who has got the 2004-spec bike, or the 2005-spec bike or even the new bike.

"But now he has moved to Ducati where he only has one true team-mate in Loris Capirossi, and I did a TV show last night where someone insinuated that Capirossi was the number one rider in the team," he continued.

"I don't think so because Ducati are going to throw everything they can at this championship, and with Bridgestone coming on strong, both riders will have exactly the same bikes with the same support.

"Gibernau has come to Ducati from Honda with the message being 'we'll give you everything we've got' and the test results have shown that this winter with both Capirossi and Gibernau looking quick, consistent and strong."