. Gauloises left Yamaha because probable 2006 champion Rossi had dumped them, and arranged to ride for a separate 'satellite' team. He doesn't like promoting tobacco, he once said, though he added: "I'd rather ride for a cigarette sponsor than not ride

"The 250 class will remain as it is now - relatively low-cost racing with two-stroke motors, keeping a place for private teams to compete at World Championship level, as well as giving the opportunity for whatever further two-stroke development may

Roberts Jr. slides his 990. Try that on an 800 says ScottIn your dreams, you can probably power-slide a sports bike on tar. Properly, I mean - using throttle control and footrest-weighting; pulling it upright to get on the fatter part of the tyre

in another area - the curious art of alienating sponsors. MotoGP may have boomed in '05, but sometimes all you could hear was the sound of moneybags being zipped up.Honda disposed of both MoviStar (by putting their pet rider Pedrosa on a Repsol bike

. Casey Stoner is also 20, and also keen to replace Rossi as the next star. He's also pretty focused, but there's some character there. He gives off a simmering aura reminiscent of another great Australian rider. Pedrosa may be like Doohan, Stoner reminds