Typical. You wait all year for a Honda win and then two come along at once.

Carlos Checa did what a few in the paddock were predicting and took the good fight to Troy Bayliss in emphatic style at the Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, USA.

Pole position and two race wins is cheekily known in some paddock circles as the 'gentleman's set', yesterday in America's mid-west it was known as the Checa-mate. The pace of the Honda proved to be uncatchable amid the dust and the high winds of Miller Motorsports Park.

It's been coming for a while now, Monza saw the Fireblade brigade finally find the speed that had - until that point - been lacking, Assen was also a pointer that the desperate scramble by Honda to try and get its all-new premier superbike up to speed after a late and lacklustre start to the year was starting to pay off.

And yesterday was the icing on the WSB cake for the Big H. Carlos is riding as well as I've ever seen him. Let's not forget that here is a rider who held his own when he took on mighty Mick Doohan, the Aussie five-time World 500cc Champion. Carlos is no mug and is widely regarded as a good development rider.

And how. It's not easy inching a new bike along the development path but Carlos has got his head down and managed an amazing job of it with the Ten Kate guys. It seems only fitting that the 50 points up for grabs in America went to the white and green bikes as some sort of pay back for the hard work done so far.

Although I bet that Troy Bayliss isn't thinking along the same lines right now. Troy's fragile weekend only goes to prove the old adage that the only predictable thing about motorcycle racing is its unpredictability.

Going into the race weekend Troy had a massive 78-point lead in the championship chase, leaving it the lead was whittled down to just 28 points after Bayliss DNF'd twice. The race one fall was bizarre and for the world it looked as though maybe the electronic brain that the modern era of racers have had to rely so heavily on just missed catching the rear tyre in time, in a buck and a weave Troy was on his backside and swiftly entered into the world's most important Samba class, dodging his peers before managing to trot to safety.

Race two was cut short by a loose gear lever. A loose gear lever! Of all the things, something so basic put Bayliss out of the fight for another 25 points. 50 points lost in a few hours. There are many reasons why paddock watchers are quick to point out that, until the championship is actually won, it isn't. And that sage saying was wildly true over the weekend.

The track looked properly slippery though, the layout might be OK and actually made sure of some close racing throughout the field, but if WSB is ever to return then something has to be done to try and keep the desert in the desert and off the racing line.

Anytime a rider drifted, or was forced, off the racing line it looked as though they hit a patch of cunningly-placed diesel. It was ridiculous and accounted for the like of Nori Haga and Troy Corser tasting track.

Not good. Riding these 230bhp motorcycles on flexing Pirelli tyres is hard enough without a dust-covered circuit adding to the problems further.

Oh, and while we're on the subject - anyone else notice how little atmosphere there was surrounding the event? Despite the warbling and strained excitement of the Rocky-esque circuit announcer: "CArrrrrrrrr Loooooooooooooowwwws CHEC aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaRRRRR!" the stands and edges of the track looked more like an old club race from the 1970s rather than an only American round of a global series.

I haven't seen lean-to posts and old-style white barriers on a dirty mound of dumped earth since standing at Saddlebow Road in Kings Lynn as a kid cheering on the Speedway Stars.

Outdated, dirty and overall disappointing.

Like the genius of TV mirth, Russ Abbott, sang: "I love a happy atmosphere," and so do we Russ. Maybe the WSB bosses need to go back and look at Monza, Assen and Brands Hatch to see how to inject that crucial aspect of atmosphere into our WSB races.

Otherwise it's just: "CArrrrrrrrr Loooooooooooooowwwws CHEC aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaRRRRR," riding on the clean bits while a few others slip on the dust and sand that is blown onto the track.

Poor.

Tony Carter / Eurosport