Ducati Marlboro's Valentino Rossi (Photo: Ducati Corse)

There was great and unrealistic expectation among fans and even the media about what could be expected from nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi in his long-awaited debut on the red (and yellow) Ducati Desmosedici. And Rossi himself may have been induced by the hype to try attempt a rather wild attack on the brakes is the season's opening corner. He gave Lorenzo a fright as he lunged his way to third briefly off the third row. He went wide and fell back behind Hector Barberá on the Aspar Ducati (the Spaniard was, surprisingly, the top Ducati on the gird).

After the first few laps, the race took the expected form with the two Repsol Hondas of Stoner and Pedrosa breaking clear while Lorenzo on the blue and white factory Yamaha held off Dovizioso on the third.

How the Stoner-Pedrosa battle for the win would have come out is unknown -- completely unknown because, whereas the Australian has had the best of it in preseason, the Spaniard is fighting not just for the title but to reestablish himself as Honda’s leader, a place he has held since 2007.

The numbness in his left arm began on lap 11. It was what Dani and his mentor, Alberto Puig, most feared -- a secret they had kept between themselves and Spanish doctors. Something is wrong, still.

After Pedrosa's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix when a human error by a team mechanic led to a sticking throttle and a big crash, #26 has been bothered by a gradual loss of feeling and strength in his right arm, wrist, and hand. This all began after a hurried operation in Barcelona to plate a quadruple break of the collarbone after that crash in Japan. A 3D CAT scan in Barcelona on Tuesday indicates that the problem does not come from vascular or nerve compression in the canal of the collarbone (as first feared), but what is described as "a small stretch in the plexus." However, it is still a factor some five months later and Dani's ashen face in the post-race ceremonies was testimony to his concern.