It’s a depressing time of life, the off-season. Sunday becomes just another normal day, as there’s no insane, high-octane action to look forward to after Saturday’s wild night out. And MotoGP fans everywhere are going to suffer until April 11 before they can get their fix.

Once again, the Losail desert circuit in Qatar will open the show. Casey Stoner stormed to victory there last year, after a torrential downpour halted the original proceedings. With the plucky 2007 champ still at Ducati for 2010, and having won the last three desert rounds, you’d be a fool to rule him out of this year’s event. Nicky Hayden partners the Aussie for another year, making Ducati the only team on the grid to consist of premier class champions.

Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi will remain at his beloved Yamaha, alongside 2009 team mate Jorge Lorenzo. It was unclear for some time during 2009 who would partner Rossi, as racing rivals Ducati Marlboro were rumoured to have offered Spanish hot-shot Lorenzo a tempting 7 million euro contract. But, on August 25, the suspense and speculation was over as Lorenzo announced he was sticking with the Japanese giants.

It seemed that the 22 year old was torn between being Rossi’s number two at the best team in the field, and trying to break free from the master’s shadow and prove his mettle elsewhere. In my humble opinion he was always going to be better off right where he was. You only have to compare Yamaha’s track record – of four championships in the past six years – with Ducati’s lone title, to see where the prospects lie. It’s not a question of him being subservient to Rossi – Catalunya 2009 will speak for itself here. Undoubtedly it was a well deserved and hard-fought victory by the Italian; but those nail-biting final laps, where the lead passed from one Yamaha rider to the other more times than anyone would care to remember, were absolutely phenomenal. Good man, Jorge, for staying at Yamaha!

Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso keep their Repsol Honda seats for another season, while the ever-present Marco Melandri and 2008’s 250cc world champion Marco Simoncelli complete the make-up at Team San Carlo Honda Gresini. Spain’s Alvaro Bautista joins veteran Loris Capriossi at Rizla Suzuki, with the 2010 season perceived by many to be the jovial Italian’s last.  Hector Barbera joins the premier class as the sole face of one-man outfit Aspar Ducati, and Frenchman Randy de Puniet continues his on-track services with LCR Honda.

Desperately floundering minnows Scot Racing are hanging on to their premier class dream by a whisker. The severely cash-strapped outfit, which ran Hungarian rider Gabor Talmacsi in 2009, has expressed a desire to remain among the elite, and they’re now relying on sponsorship from Hungarian oil company Mol to keep their hopes alive. Best of luck to them – they are certainly going to need it. Pramac Racing are yet to confirm any riders, and Kawasaki-offshoot Hayate have called it a day as the legendary green team withdrew from MotoGP due to economic reasons.

We look set, then, for another eight months of drama, excitement and down-to-the-wire racing. Already April seems so far away, but once the dark cobwebs of winter are shifted we know it won’t be long until we can hear the engines roar and revel in the absolute madness that makes MotoGP so watchable.

Riders so far:

TEAM CONFIRMED RIDERS

Repsol Honda - Dani Pedrosa/Andrea Dovizioso
Fiat Yamaha -  Valentino Rossi/Jorge Lorenzo
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - Colin Edwards/Ben Spies
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - Loris Capirossi/Alvaro Bautista
LCR Honda MotoGP - Randy de Puniet
San Carlo Honda Gresini - Marco Simoncelli/Marco Melandri
Ducati Marlboro - Casey Stoner/Nicky Hayden
Pramac Racing - TBA
Scot Racing - TBA
Aspar Ducati - Hector Barbera
Hayate Racing - out

2010 Calendar:

April 11 – Qatar (Doha/Losail)
April 25 – Japan (Motegi)
May 2 – Spain (Jerez de la Frontera)
May 23 – France (Le Mans)
June 6 – Italy (Mugello)
June 20 – Great Britain (Silverstone)
June 26 – Netherlands (Assen)
July 4 – Catalunya (Catalunya)
July 18 – Germany (Sachsenring)
July 25 – United States (Laguna Seca)
August 22 – Czech Republic (Brno)
August 29 – Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
September 5 – San Marino (Misano)
September 19 – Hungary (Balatonring)
October 10 – Malaysia (Sepang)
October 17 – Australia (Phillip Island)
October 31 – Portugal (Estoril)
November 7 – Valencia (Ricardo Tormo-Valencia)                                                                                                                                                                              

According to MCN :   Pramac have signed Kallio and Esparago, and Aoyama rides for Interwetten Honda.                                                                                                                                                                             

youtube.com/watch?v=hEkr11ZvbC0

latest update
                                                                                                                                                                             

I have to watch it on the BBC ...........  no access to eurosport!!!! I think i might be Jorge's year!                                                                                                                                                                             

Could be, but my money's on Stoner this year.   He's the only one who can consistantly beat Rossi and I can't see anyone on the same bike as Rossi, being able to say that.                                                                                                                                                                             

My money's on Rossi - funny that,,,,,innit ???!!!!!  

I think he'll pull his socks up and not let his success  go to his head like he has before  - he'll have to concentrate if he wants to retain his title.

But he has the talent and charisma to carry it off of course !!!

If Stoner doesn't pull another sickie,,, he will be very close competition tho - hats off to him for his recovery of last year's season - not many riders could've done that.

Think it will prove an interesting year if nothing else which is always gud for us punters                                                                                                                                                                               

if we are putting money on .........mines on BEN SPIES   p.s. if FOGGY thinks he's goin to be there/thereabouts  then that's a good enough pointer for me lol                                                                                                                                                                             

IM going to say Stoner.....i think the racing will be close this year......so get on with it.                                                                                                                                                                              

No  Rider             Official team name        Bike 4   Andrea Dovizioso  Repsol Honda Team         Honda
5   Colin Edwards     Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha
7   Hiroshi Aoyama    Interwetten-Honda MotoGP  Honda
11  Ben Spies         Monster Yamaha Tech 3     Yamaha
14  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda MotoGP          Honda
19  Alvaro Bautista   Rizla Suzuki MotoGP       Suzuki
24  Marco Melandri    San Carlo Honda Gresini   Honda
26  Dani Pedrosa      Repsol Honda Team         Honda
27  Casey Stoner      Ducati Marlboro Team      Ducati
36  Mika Kallio            Pramac Racing Team        Ducati
40  Hector Barbera    Aspar MotoGP Team         Ducati
41  Aleix Espargaro   Pramac Racing Team        Ducati
46  Valentino Rossi   Fiat Yamaha Team          Yamaha
58  Marco Simoncelli  San Carlo Honda Gresini   Honda
65  Loris Capirossi   Rizla Suzuki MotoGP       Suzuki
69  Nicky Hayden      Ducati Marlboro Team      Ducati
99  Jorge Lorenzo     Fiat Yamaha Team          Yamaha