It's 7pm in the Jerez press office on Sunday evening and I'm listening to Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond. I've specifically picked out this tune because my day is ending as it started; full of excitement.

So why the tune? Well, the circuit PA has played the tune every year I've ever been here (since 1996), just as the sun peeps over the hill a Turn 2, drenching the pit building in piercing bright light through the chilly darkness of what should really be the last night of spring and the first morning of summer. This is Jerez and it marks the beginning of the proper MotoGP world championship every year.