Sepang Review: Don't panic

There we were this time last year after the penultimate race, buzzing from the thrilling action we had just seen at the Portuguese Grand Prix where Toni Elias pipped Valentino Rossi to the line by just 0.002 seconds. It was an epic.

Nicky Hayden, the then world championship leader, had been knocked off by his team-mate Dani Pedrosa in a truly unbelievable move that was never going to come off. Pedrosa's mentor, Alberto Puig, later said that even though Pedrosa was 34 points behind Hayden going into the race, the championship was still achievable. Yeah, right.

Kenny Roberts Jr thought the win was his as he crossed the line, only to realise that there was another lap to go. He eventually finished third. Elias came storming through to blitz them for the victory. Edwards was a 'distant' fourth, less than 0.9s off the win. He was dumbfounded at the pace of the race, and the speed at which Elias came through the order from 11th on the grid.

The champagne was sprayed, Rossi led the championship by 8 points going into the last round and Elias had just sealed his ride for 2007 with his first MotoGP victory.

Toni Elias overtakes Kenny Roberts Jr for the lead of the final lap of the 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix © DPPI

Meanwhile, Hayden was left to do the now famous press debrief with his big thick sunglasses on, his voice wobbling, quivering on the edge of completely breaking down at the utter frustration and disbelief of it all. The scrum of press all around him was, with hindsight, memorable.

We saw Sete Gibernau racing for the very last time until he was knocked off by Casey Stoner on the first lap, while a glimpse of the future was there in the shape of the Ilmor 800cc bike doing a public test run for the new rules in 2007. It even scored points.

It was one of the best races we had ever seen in recent MotoGP history.

The Roberts boys had a memorable 'get together' in the Irish bar in nearby Cascais, while a replay of the race was played on the big screen in the corner. Everyone was utterly drained after such emotions of an historic day.

A single weekend at home before the finale in Valencia was needed as we wondered whether Hayden could fight back, or Rossi could somehow complete the most epic of fight-backs from being 51 points down after Laguna Seca.

Since then we have only seen the Ilmor once at Qatar, Gibernau once as a spectator in Catalunya and Pedrosa win just once in Germany. Team Roberts has hardly been seen at all, Kenny Junior has gone, Hayden has struggled onto some podiums and Elias has nibbled away at them with a stunning sideways sliding ride in Turkey.

Instead, it has just been Stoner who has come through it all as the top guy, now having taken home ten winners' trophies for his apartment in Monaco.

The new rules have certainly shaken up the order of the early years in the 21st century and in the space of 12 months, they have had a massive effect.

Many blame the tyres, and many say it is boring. A thrilling race it was not last weekend in Malaysia, but what people mustn't do is panic. The trouble is, there seems to be a fair bit of that floating around in the paddock at present.

Single tyre rule ideas from Dorna, 'I want the tyres that he's on because they're better than mine' ideas from Valentino Rossi and 'ban electronics because it is a bad thing' ideas from the old school have all been bounded about the press offices, the airport lounges and the coffee tables that make up the arena that is the paddock.

Bridgestone tyres © DPPI

People need to not panic, and just calm down a moment amid all this arm waving of 'we're doomed!' The first year of the 990cc era was boring, with Rossi running away with things.

Then he changed to Yamaha, and although he won nine races in 2004, it was still bizarrely interesting in that he was not supposed to win on that blue bike that was still a bit of a slouch compared to the Honda. In fact, it was - just look at where the next Yamaha was that year - just like the gap between Stoner and the next Ducati this year.

The same was true in 2000, when we had the dying era of the 500cc bikes, but it turned out to be the most thrilling year when Kenny Roberts Jr won the title on a Suzuki that was way outclassed by many other bikes on the grid. We had eight different winners in 2000.

To prove that things can get better, you need to remember Kenny Roberts Senior's words at the end of last year, though: "Never again will we see a season like 2006. It was the best ever."

I didn't believe him at the time as fresh out of one season you have to have some perspective on another before judgements can be made, but now I can see he was right. 2006 was a cracker, but that doesn't mean that 2007 is a doom and gloom. What's different in seeing Stoner win ten races and Rossi win equally as many on a Repsol Honda or a Gauloises Yamaha?

The manufacturers who have been beaten will fight back, and they will be there again in 2008. Everything in life is cyclical. Everything.

The electronics will get better, so the Ducati of Stoner will be caught. The tyres underneath Rossi will either make or break him for what is probably his swansong year before the forests beckon for his rally car switch.

Melandri will either fly or be flabbergasted by Stoner's data trace at the first test, or perhaps Lorenzo will dish out a dollop of whoop-ass - leaving Pedrosa to be the next Cadalora or Capirossi in that he won in 125 and 250, but was never to win the big title?

Just like this time last year, approaching the final race of the year, there is always going to be a surprise around the corner.

Hey, this time last year Troy Bayliss had never won a MotoGP race...