MotoGP: The Old Order more or less re-established.

Today, Casey Stoner isn't world champion any more. Despite creaming the opposition in a masterly race around the sunny Valencia circuit, he is runner up and Valentino Rissi, who said before the race that he couldn't get the bike set up to his liking, is world champion for the fifth time.In terms of wins this year, it's Rossi 9, Stoner 6.Out of 18 races, they have won 14.

Hayden chased the leaders for half of the race and then faded. His team-mate stormed on, as he has in other races this season.

Stoner, who comleted his victory lap bracing his injured left hand on the tank of his bike, was modest, as always. Teams were frustrated by the wet practice, damp qualifying and warm and dry race. Stoner said that they simply could not find a set up during practice. But then it was all irrelevant as the morning warm-up demonstrated a dry track.

Seemingly, the team just stuck their best guesses as to how it would work out - We were really lucky to stumble across it," Stoner told reporters after the race.

Today, the whole paddock gets to blow away the cobweb's of last night's end of season party and awards ceremony with a ten o'clock start to testing for next year. Stoner will be there: he will test for two days before taking two months' off for an operation. A piece of his hip bone will be grafted into his hand to repair the damage done at Laguna Seca in a massive crash.

But he's not going to let his new team-mate, Hayden, have the first say in how the bike is set up.

Ducatti are going to have to manage two former world champions: the brash Hayden and the calm and quiet Stoner. Stoner's win yesterday was not just about finishing the season on a high: it was a message to Hayden - "you may be joining my team, but remember- it's MY team," he seemed to be saying.

As Melandri meanders off to pastures new, Hayden will be anxious to prove that, given equal machinery, he can do an equal job.

The trouble is, that in Valencia, he had equal machinery with MotoGP new boy this season Dani Pedrosa. Again, Pedrosa walked away from Hayden, finishing mroe than 20 seconds ahead.

True, that's not in the same league as Melandri's 108 seconds behind his team-mate Stoner. Rossi'e team mate, Lorenzo, also new to MotoGP this season was only 24 seconds behind his team leader.

There is little doubt that Hayden's new job owes much to Ducati's marketing efforts in the USA. But he's going to have to pull his socks up if he thinks he's in for an easy life just because he's left Honda. After all, it was a Honda that closed up on Stoner at the end of the Valencia race: it just wasn't Hayden's.

In fact, Pedrosa's points tally for the season puts Hayden into perspective: 249 as against 155. Rossi's team mate Lorenzo has 190. Rossi was dominant with 373 against Stoner's 280