. For though the Ducatis sat proudly atop the maximum speed standings, their hegemony only interrupted by the flyweight Dani Pedrosa aboard the Honda, the fastest laps were being set by riders on slow bikes: John Hopkins on the Suzuki and Valentino Rossi

Rossi's favorite tracks, a place where he has won an astonishing 8 times out of the 11 times has raced here.The practices sessions had left the argument undecided, with Casey Stoner fastest on the Ducati in the relative cool of the mornings

past, The Doctor put the hammer down. In half a lap, Rossi pulled out 4/10ths of a second lead, adding another 1/10th on lap 9. But he was only just starting to build speed; on lap 10, Rossi pulled nearly half a second, before taking the lap record

to the second fastest man, Valentino Rossi. The afternoon's qualifying session saw Stoner leading once again, taking pole position from Rossi in the dying seconds of the session. But this time, there was a lot less in it, under 2/10ths of a second, and the sight

the festivities ablaze. Valentino Rossi returns to Mugello with a record rivaled only by Mick Doohan. The Doctor has won the last 6 races in a row here at the Tuscan track, and has not lost on a four-stroke GP bike. The last time Rossi lost here was in 2001

, and especially through the chicane and the Esses. The Ducati certainly struggled here last year, with Sete Gibernau the fastest qualifier in 8th, and Loris Capirossi the first Ducati home in 12th place, a fact which will surely cheer the opposition.And then there

and skill left in Grand Prix racing.Colin Edwards passed that test brilliantly in last year's race, before failing so utterly in the GT chicane. Edwards will surely be out to avenge his stupid mistake this weekend, and with his record here, winning in World

, second only to Mick Doohan's record of 12 wins in a season. To do that, he needs to win both the remaining races, starting at Sepang.One man standing in his way is team mate Loris Capirossi. Capirex has gone well here for the past two seasons, winning

, and was the fastest man on track by a huge amount. After smashing the lap record on lap 2, he then pulverized on lap 3 and lap 4 as well. By the end of lap 5, the Spaniard had a lead of over 3 seconds, and was pulling over half a second a lap on the following group

rejoined, but were out of contention after just a couple of hundred yards. Hopkins entered the pits for new controls, rejoining the race already 3 laps down, but with no chance of points, despite being the 3rd fastest bike on the track, while Hayden