Under the probably unnecessary 2010 rules, British Superbikes has now entered the Showdown phase. In brief: only the top six can now win the title, and they’ve had their points broadly equalised.

Those six aren’t exactly who I would have predicted. Both HM Plant Honda riders – Ryuichi Kiyonari and Josh Brookes – are there, as expected, as is Tommy Hill on the Worx Suzuki. Michael Rutter (Riders Ducati) would have been a fair bet, but the surprise is that not just one, but both Relentless Suzuki riders – Michael Laverty and Alistair Seeley – are through. It’s Stuart Easton and James Ellison – both Swan Honda – who are conspicuous by their absence.

Anyway, who’s going to win? It was illustrative for the BTCC, so let’s have a look at a graph of cumulative points by race for each of the riders in the Showdown.

There’s an argument that anything could happen, as effectively only seven races will decide the championship. But what does the graph say?

It would be a brave man who would back Rutter, Laverty or Seeley: all three have been fairly consistent to date, rather than showing occasional bursts of point-scoring, which might suggest a potential upset over the remaining meetings.

But it’s almost unbearably close between the other three in the Showdown. Hill started strongly, had a bit of a dip, but is right back on form now. Brookes and Kiyonari both struggled early on. Brookes quickly improved and was the man benefiting most during Hill’s dip; Kiyonari took a bit longer to get up to speed, but is probably the man with most momentum right now.

But my hunch? Brookes.

There are three series which I’m forced to follow through highlights shows: British Superbikes, WTCC and World Superbikes. Well, not quite forced to: I could get Eurosport and watch them live. But I don’t. The point is: there is definitely a skill in crafting a highlights package, and not all of these manage it.

British Superbikes, on ITV4, represents close to the ideal highlights show. For one thing, there’s a real, actual presenter on screen and on the grid – James Haydon. As I have previously remarked, he now does a very good job indeed.

The downside is that the commentary is not bespoke: it’s an edit of Eurosport’s live coverage. But you’d not want to replace the ever-entertaining Jack Burnicle and James Whitham, and the highlights are extensive enough to still convey the story of the race – the programme is an hour long for standard two-race meetings, with an extra 30 minutes for the triple-headers.

That’s where World Superbikes on Channel 4 falls down. The problem is that two races – plus qualifying – are stuffed into less than half an hour; and while Charlie Webster provides a voiceover, race commentary is an edit of the world feed by Jonathan Green and Steve Martin. In a busy race, you end up with lots of shouting about the overtaking moves, and little idea of who’s where and who’s going where. So, bizarrely, you get better highlights from races with less action, because there are fewer quick, jarring cuts from one overtake to the next.

World Touring Car Championship highlights on ITV4 also squeeze two races plus qualifying into half an hour. The difference is that the commentary is specific to the highlights show – it used to be Martin Haven, but earlier this year Ben Constanduros took over. And it works: because the commentary is continuous, even when there’s a lot of action, there’s still time to cover how the race is progressing as a whole. There’s a bonus of watching WTCC highlights too: it cuts out all the bloody safety cars.

So the conclusion is you either need lengthy highlights, or a bespoke commentary. Easy!

Who doesn’t love Michael Rutter? Be honest. He’s pretty ace, isn’t he? I don’t think I heard anyone else’s name being shouted by the crowd at Brands Hatch on Sunday, but middle-aged men were passionately and vocally willing on the unassuming 38 year old. I think that’s his appeal: he’s such an unlikely frontrunner, for British Superbikes or any other series really.

Rutter didn’t get carried away by the crowd’s encouragement though, instead doing what he always does: ride the bike fast, but not beyond what it’s capable of. So he didn’t pick up any wins, but he was on the podium for all three of the weekend’s races. That netted him the third highest points tally of the meeting, behind the visiting Tom Sykes and new championship leader Ryuichi Kiyonari.

Form has fluctuated over the course of the season for all the championship contenders, and that’s something I intend to return to.

But with only the second meeting at Cadwell Park to go before we enter the Showdown, Rutter is definitely one of the men on the up. If you take just the last three meetings, only Kiyonari has scored more points than Rutter. Compare that to the first three meetings of the season, after which Rutter was 6th overall, and Kiyonari 8th.

Another factor which occurred to me over the weekend was that the Showdown, which decides the championship, is played out over three meetings in September and October. You could argue that rain is more likely in the autumn than over the summer – might that play into the hands of someone like, ooh, Michael Rutter?

Rutter insists that he’s good in all conditions, and isn’t just a rain master. That’s true, but it’s also true that a lot of other riders struggle more in the rain than Rutter does.

It’s tempting to think that a rainy final round at Oulton Park – which doesn’t seem implausible in the north of England in October – could just sway the championship in favour of Rutter. How great would that be?

Well I had a jolly good time at Brands Hatch today, watching British Superbikes and all that goes with it.

Another man who I fancy will have enjoyed his day is Tom Sykes. He certainly looks happy after winning the first BSB race of the day, doesn’t he?

It only got better for him, winning race two as well. He’s not had even a podium in his day job in World Superbikes, this season or last, so to grab a couple of wins on his old home stomping ground must have been nice.

What about the regular BSB riders, though? Having only just got in, I’ve not seen any TV coverage, or read any rider comments. But at least some of them must be a bit frustrated that Sykes just rolled up, took crucial championship points and podium credits, and now toddles back of to World Superbikes.

Ho hum, such is life. At least there were three races this weekend, and Sykes only finished 5th in the first on Saturday.

It’s going to be a slow news month, with Formula 1 taking its month-long summer break, and MotoGP taking a few weeks off too. It doesn’t mean there’s no motorsport on TV though. Oh my no.

Fortunately, this weekend marks the end of the BTCC‘s own, even longer summer break, which means an entire afternoon of action from Snetterton on ITV4. Even more fortunately, the forecast is good: potential for a touch of rain on Saturday, then dry and warm – but not hot – on Sunday.

The weather could be important. Tom Onslow-Cole – who I confused at Thruxton on Wednesday – wants cool weather to be kind to the tyres on the Ford Focus. Conversely, the BMWs are kind to their tyres, so they’re after hot weather. Which they’re not likely to get.

You’d have to agree with championship leaders Matt Neal and Jason Plato, then: the two Toms in the LPG-turbo Focus should go bloody well. Especially on Snetterton’s long straights.

My eyes will be on – and at – Brands Hatch though, for British Superbikes. Same story with the weather: bit of rain possible on Saturday; warm and dry on Sunday.

It’s a curious point in the season: there are two more meetings until the points are reset, and the top six riders enter the showdown for the title, with only their podium credits carried forward. The top five – Tommy Hill, Josh Brookes, Ryuchi Kiyonari, Michael Laverty, Michael Rutter – are looking fairly safe.

But the pressure is on for the final place in the showdown. It’s John Laverty as things stands, but Alistair Seeley is just one point back. Stuart Easton has an outside chance too, but has had a shocker for the last four meetings.

With three races at Brands Hatch this weekend, it’s going to be absolutely crucial for that battle. Meanwhile the top five will be doing everything they can to pick up podiums, to give them a headstart in the showdown.

So there’s an interesting make-up to the meeting, and best of all it’s on the Grand Prix layout, which is always a treat. It’s been a long time since I’ve been round the back of the circuit. I can’t wait.

Is it Isle of Man TT time again? Yes, yes it is. In fact, practice gets under way tomorrow for newcomers – and there’s a full schedule on the official site here.

The good news is that ITV4 will be covering the event once more. Why is that good news? Because last year the coverage was staggeringly good – and of course it’s on lovely Freeview. It’s pretty much the same deal as last year: an hour of highlights per night, from Thursday 3rd June to Friday 11th June. Plus repeats.

Inoffensive Craig Doyle will present again, and the intriguing combination of Steve Parrish and James Whitham returns to the commentary box. Frankly, as long as there’s liberal use of high motion cameras – which provided the amazing slow-motion footage last year – then I’ll be happy.

Plus, if last year is anything to go by, ITV4 will be following the ever surprising Guy Martin at every opportunity. He is excellent TV value.

If you fancy a bit of road-racing in advance of the TT, and like me forgot to watch any of the North West 200 a couple of weeks ago, then you’d be advised to peruse the plentiful video BBC Sport NI recently added to its NW200 website.

Steve Parrish is in the box for this too, so it’s a handy reminder that it really is just Charlie Cox making the BBC’s MotoGP commentary painful. Parrish need not be feared.

The second superbike race is particularly recommended, so what the hell, I’ll include it here. Guy Martin has an eventful time – let’s not forget that he’s a proper racer, as well as a jolly entertaining tea-drinking bloke – and there’s a great scrap at the front.

It really is all about the weather in the motorsport world this weekend.

Formula 1 is in Malaysia, and word from the paddock in Sepang is that it’s been raining around 4-5pm every day. Both qualifying and the race start at 4pm local time (9am in the UK), so everyone is predicting rain to affect proceedings. Twitter is the place for photos of the rain, from the likes of Claire Williams and Jake Humphrey – though his photo of the looming storm just before it erupted is more dramatic. The question, then, is whether rain will spice up the race, like last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix; or bring it to a premature end, like last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Fingers crossed for another fun-packed race.

It’s significantly drier for Rally Jordan. For my money, it’s been a good start to the WRC season. It was all too common last year that drivers would avoid being first on the road on day two, by slowing down at the end of day one to ensure they don’t lead the rally. That didn’t happen in Mexico, which was brilliant: they just properly gave it some, chief amongst them the excellent Petter Solberg. He’s not going to do the same in Jordan, which is a massive shame. It’s a rubbish rule that needs to change.

Back in the UK, the BTCC is happily living up to British stereotypes, going on about the weather on its website. It is a bit of luck though: Sunday’s looking like the best day of the weekend at Thruxton, the venue for the first meeting of the season. Jason Plato is the clear championship favourite, but I’m rather excited about it all.

There’s more of a chance of rain for the first rounds of British Superbikes at Brands Hatch on Monday, but it can’t be worse than the snow that cancelled the same meeting in 2008. I don’t think there’s anything resembling a favourite yet, but if we use World Superbikes as a guide, then the Suzuki could be worth watching. There’s a fascinating range of riders though, with successful riders returning to the series, last season’s runners up, and new guys moving up the ranks. Including the new Evo class, there are eight makes of bike in the championship. It all bodes pretty well.

It’s just as well MotoGP doesn’t get under way for another week, otherwise it really would be a ridiculously busy motorsport weekend. And I’d have to come up with a connection to the weather for that too.

With the 2010 season approaching, it’s quite marked how much more we know about British Superbikes than the British Touring Car Championship.

There’s a very significant similarity though: both have lost a top team. Due to a lack of sponsorship to replace Airwaves, GSE Racing won’t be competing in BSB; and Vaxhall pulled VX Racing out of the BTCC last year.

Glance at the 2010 BSB grid and it’s a virtually complete picture. In a relatively last minute change, Hydrex Honda has become Swan Honda, but otherwise it’s familiar teams: HM Plant Honda, Worx Crescent Suzuki, Motorpoint Yamaha, MSS Colchester Kawasaki, Relentless Suziki by TAS, Buildbase Kawasaki. Plus Michael Rutter returning with RidersMotorcycles.com Ducati, and a good smattering of other entries. All with confirmed riders.

It’s a less certain world over in the BTCC. It should all become clear on 23rd March, when the annual media day is held, this year at Brands Hatch. Until then, we have to rely on Wikipedia to keep track of the grid.

Sunshine.co.uk with Tech-Speed is the only one of last year’s teams to be fully formed, while Team Aon and WSR both have one driver confirmed. David Pinkney and Andrew Jordan have each gone out on their own. There are new teams: Forster Motorsport with a couple of Mat Jackson’s old BMWs; AmD with a pair of VW Golfs. Tom Boardman returns to the BTCC from the WTCC with the SEAT Leon; Bamboo Engineering have gone the other way, and taken Harry Vaulkhard with them.

So it’s by no means an empty grid at this point, but there are lots of missing pieces. Both Team Dynamics and Motorbase have been testing, running Matt Neal and Robert Collard respectively, so they seem like announcements to come. Colin Turkington has been busy for WSR too, so perhaps we’ll see him confirmed before long.

What of the other big name drivers? James Thompson is already looking busy, tackling the DTC (Danish), STCC (Scandanavian), ETCC (European Touring Car Cup), and a bit of WTCC. There could yet be a splash of BTCC on the side too.

Jason Plato is the interesting one though: he’s made a rare appearance on Twitter today, alerting us to announcements to come in the next few days. What announcements? Well, RML running the Chevrolet Cruze seems likely, given that it was announced and unannounced on Twitter earlier this month.

But there’s also Triple Eight, the team behind VX Racing, which is hoping to be back. Fabrizio Giovanardi, perhaps? Who knows. Certainly not me.

I’ve confused myself just writing this. And that’s without getting into sponsorship: Team Dynamics has a Honda tie-in, but WSR has lost RAC, and Motorbase has lost Airwaves. Again, BSB seems to have fared better, for reasons beyond me.

Roll on the first race of the season, when I can stop trying to juggle all this in my head.

Motorsport on TV in 2009 – that’s the theme for this last normal week of the year

Although he was a slightly curious choice, I thought Olympic rower James Cracknell was rather suited to presenting ITV‘s British Superbike coverage. Conversely, I thought former superbike rider James Haydon was rather ill-suited to television.

But it was Haydon fronting the coverage all season in 2009, and it wasn’t a bad move: for me he’s the most improved element of any motorsport coverage this year. There was never any doubting that he’s qualified and knowledgeable, it just took a while for him to relax in front of the camera and start talking more like a human being and less like a robot.

By the end of the year, Haydon’s little grid walks were quite a highlight of the coverage. Which, given that ITV uses Eurosport’s commentary by Jack Burnicle and James Whitham, is some compliment.

Almost needless to say, Burnicle and Whittam remain the country’s foremost motorsport commentary team. They strike the right balance between excitable and funny, and actually describing what’s going on. They are a joy.

There’s no reason to think that much should change for the 2010 season. ITV4 will have highlights on the Wednesday after each race weekend, rather than the Saturday, which is only an improvement. Otherwise, more of the same please!

Despite being pushed hard by Mikko Hirvonen in the second half of the season, Sebastien Loeb took his sixth World Rally Championship title at Rally GB yesterday. If we can just get Petter Solberg in a consistently competitive car next year – and that looks fairly likely – then we could even have three drivers fighting for the crown next year.

Six world titles? Rubbish! Valentino Rossi took his ninth yesterday – and his seventh in the top MotoGP class.

The whole chicken celebration was slightly confusing, but easily explained by the man himself: when hens get old, they stop laying eggs, but he’s still laying eggs. Though his eggs are championships. Anyway, that’s why he had a live chicken with him on the cool down lap. He’s a funny little man.

What about Casey Stoner though? Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo scything through the field was impressive, but Stoner was just astonishing, all alone at the front. If only he hadn’t been sort of ill earlier in the season, then missed three races, the championship might still be alive. But there’s always next year.

Cal Crutchlow took the Supersport World Championship title in Portugal yesterday, and will partner the returning James Toseland in World Superbike in 2010, in the factory Yamaha squad.

Meanwhile Ben Spies, who will take Toseland’s place at Tech 3 Yamaha in MotoGP, took the Superbike World Championship title on his very first attempt. Poor old Noriyuki Haga finished second in the championship yet again.

Top Brit in the championship Johnny Rea took an impressive double podium, so with a season’s experience under his belt, big things will be expected of him next year on that factory Honda.

Encouraging signs too for British Superbike champion Leon Camier, who finished 6th and 7th in the races in Portugal. His plans for next year are yet to be announced, but surely the world stage beckons, whether it’s World Superbike, World Supersport or Moto2.