Not enough good things can be said about the main man, Gregorio Lavilla. There was something really poignant in the race programme at the final round. They asked every team manager to name their 'Rider of the Year' and I think eight of them, from all through the championship rankings, picked Lavilla. The fact is that he has come to new circuits, won races, qualified well, won the championship... amazing really.
But the one team manger for me who made the difference was Neil Tuxworth. You tend to find that Honda people will never say anything other than positive things about their own Honda lot. But he also picked Lavilla when he could have so easily picked Kiyonari, who has been impressive this year as well. I was glad Neil did that; it was a nice thing to say, especially as at that point the championship was not decided.
It's incredible how that whole Airwaves Ducati team has built up through the year. In the last few rounds there was no one going to get close to them. At Cadwell, Donington and Brands, they were in a different class. The team had a year out as well, so a lot of it's down to Colin Wright; he's so blooming clever, and he had that big grin on his face after the weekend. GSE really know how to run a team and it is a whole package, top to bottom.
The shock of the year was Dunlop being able to overcome Michelin at Donington. That was the pivotal point of the championship. It wasn't expected, what with all the feedback Michelin has from its years in MotoGP (which made it a particularly impressive achievement for Dunlop).
The ride of the year was also at Donington, by Lavilla in both races. He didn't get away from the pack; he just made it happen. Lavilla stayed calm and cut some very impressive laps. He simply broke Kiyonari, who had been in control up to then and the fastest rider all year. After Donington though, Lavilla had pretty much got it in the bag.
No 'Y' in Honda
Honda does some strange things. I heard from Michael Rutter that he had been sacked and replaced with Karl Harris for next year. But the team told him at Donington, the week before the season finale at Brands. They really needed him to help Kiyonari for the championship, but when you're a sacked rider it's difficult to motivate yourself to get a result for the team. You can't help thinking, 'Well, the team's sacked me, so why should I give them any glory?' I can't understand the logic of it at. It's amazing Honda covers every base and then does a thing like that.
James up and down
With my Rizla Suzuki hat on, Brands was a great weekend. We made a lot of progress at Donington and the team and the bikes were ready to win at Brands. It was a shame what happened to JR and I'm gutted for him, but James proved we were fast by taking pole and third in the first race. Unfortunately he did what he tends to do and crashed in race two, and he could have done with another rostrum to help his case for a ride in 2006. We breathed a sigh of relief that the bike could go round faster than anything else at the weekend - we've always known it was in there. The GSX-R has dominated elsewhere in the world, so it was nice to get to that point. Despite what happened it was a positive weekend for the team.
Future perfect
The money and back-up that Airwaves Ducati and HM Plant Honda have is hard to compete with but it was encouraging to have a genuine privateer like Steve Plater on the rostrum at Brands. That was the highlight for me, since it gives the other teams hope. He came from the third or fourth row and finished on the rostrum, battling with Kiyonari for the last few laps and sticking one over him. There are a lot of teams throwing everything they can at it, but it shows that on the day a fast rider can still hang with the top guys.
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