Next week-end's German Grand Prix means that the MotoGP season will pass its midway point as the teams and riders are getting prepared for what will be the tenth round of 2008 on the Sachsenring circuit.

Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa arrives as the current leader of the championship with a narrow margin of four points over Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi. The Spaniard has only been off the podium on one occasion in 2008 and he is confident that he could repeat last year German's performance with a second win in two years.

A string of seven consecutive podium finishes was put to an end in the Netherlands for Valentino Rossi, and he will be looking for redemption at a circuit where he has won MotoGP races in 2002, 2005 and 2006.

Casey Stoner, a further 25 points down in the standings, is presently the talk of the town as the Ducati driver was an unstoppable force in the Grands Prix held at Donington and Assen, dominating practice sessions and breaking free from the field from pole position for comfortable victories.

After a spate of injuries, fourth-placed Jorge Lorenzo has been starting again over the past few Grands Prix. Valentino Rossi's teammate can now set his sights on a return to the podium with a clean bill of health. With 57 points less than Pedrosa, Lorenzo knows that the championship battle is over for him this year.