The shadow of World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty hangs over this weekend's round at Assen even though the Briton is not here to defend his title.
Fogarty is on holiday recovering from shoulder injuries sustained in a round two crash at Phillip Island, Australia, but he is a talking point in Holland for two reasons.
First, he is due to get back on his bike for a test run on September 20, his first ride at competitive speeds since his crash.
Second, he has won the last 12 races held on the Dutch track. Only one rider in the current field has won an event here, and that is Pierfrancesco Chili, who lies fourth in the championship.
Fogarty's absence leaves Sunday's two races an intriguingly open prospect, and Chili is sure not to have things all his own way.
It really is anyone's race at Assen, and it could provide a good pointer as to the destiny of the championship. The top four are all likely to figure strongly this weekend and with 300 points still available, everything is still wide open for Colin Edwards, Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga and Chili.
Troy Bayliss has it all to do if he is to win the title - he is in fifth place, nearly 100 points behind championship leader Edwards.
But Fogarty's replacement has had one confidence boost heading into the race with the confirmation from the Ducati team that he will be retained for 2001 - alongside Fogarty if he is fit.
A couple of good results here would provide a massive psychological boost for anyone before the next round, at Oschersleben in Germany only a week later. After that, there is a month's gap before the next event.
Before that, Fogarty will have had his test, which should give a good indication as to whether the four-time champion will be able to make a comeback.
So far, the indications are leaning towards the negative. He has been waiting to see if he can find something to re-light his fire, which not even a tour of honour in front of 100,000 adoring British fans at Brands Hatch last month could do.
It is not even clear if he has been able to train ahead of his test run. And if he won't be fit until November or December, it could already be too late for a return in 2001.
At Fogarty's age, two seasons out would probably spell the end. He has won every trophy worth having in superbikes and has little left to prove, and he certainly will not want to come back if he cannot win.
For now, there is a seat open for him at Ducati, but a lot more could depend on Fogarty's return than just his own future.
The silly season has started in earnest, and with it the very real prospect of British star Neil Hodgson's GSE-INS Ducati team graduating to the world championship.
GSE is trying hard to win a place in the global series, but it is not proving easy. For a start, it has to secure its sponsorship from Cable & Wireless, which has still not signed up for another year.
If Fogarty does return, he would partner Bayliss in the works team, and GSE would have to take a factory-nominated driver.
Controversy
But wouldn't it be fantastic if Hodgson's fellow Briton Chris Walker, currently riding for Suzuki, could come in? Whether Walker or Hodgson would want to be team-mates is another matter, but it would be cracking to see.
If not, it looks like there could possibly be a place in the Kawasaki team for Walker.
Meanwhile, Aaron Slight's future hangs in the balance. He does not look like he will have a ride at Honda next year, and he might not have a job at all, although Yamaha or Kawasaki may offer him a seat.
Talk of Hodgson leads us on to the place of wild card entries in the championship showdown, and the question of what will happen to them for the next round at Brands at the beginning of October.
Hodgson looks almost certain to be there, in theory to help Ducati in the manufacturers' championship. But Corser has weighed into the debate by saying that he believes wild card entries should not be able to score points.
If Troy wins the title this year it will be richly deserved - he has had his Aprila bike in places it should not have been.
But he has made himself unpopular in the UK with his latest remarks. I'll be asking him about them - and whether he's more concerned about wild cards because of championship points or because of the instant heroes they create - in an interview that will be broadcast in the coverage of Assen on BBC Grandstand on Sunday.
Join us from 4.30pm on BBC2.