The credit crunch affects every aspect of life today. Take 250 ace Mattia Pasini and Team Toth, the Hungarian squad he rides for. After Catalunya, rumours spread that Aprilia had impounded their bikes. When the paddock rolled into Assen it turned out the rumors were true. The riders were there, the bikes were there, but Aprilia had the dashboards and associated electronics safely in their hands. So Mattia and his team-mate Imre Toth sat in their pit box beside their inert bikes for half of Thursday's first session. When the missing bits arrived Pasini took five laps to get within range of the top men and finished the session a splendid fifth.

On a serious note, Aprilia's willingness to make this dispute over payment public does indicate that they are not worried about anyone's sensitivities in the MotoGP paddock. The absence of senior men this season shows that their Superbike project is where they see the future.

Reports of Yuki Takahashi losing his MotoGP ride thankfully proved unfounded. Team Scott are fielding both their Japanese rider and wealthy new recruit Gabor Talmacsi (who by the way was less than a second slower than Toni Elias at the Monday test after Catalunya). In another plus for privateers, Randy de Puniet was quickest today on his satellite Honda. And he used the harder of the Bridgestone's two compounds to set his best time. Even in these dark times, there is hope!