Race weekend

Schumacher, Alonso and Rossi are expected to take over your weekend.

There are some good reasons to be glued to the telly today and tomorrow. Formula One crosses the Atlantic for the first of the two North American races this year. If you want to watch the Canadian Grand Prix live, tune in to Star Sports tomorrow night at 10.30 pm.

Regular fans of MotoGP will remember that the Dutch TT is traditionally a Saturday race. Grab the remote from your kid if you want to see Rossi and the rest of MotoGP gang in action at Assen in the Netherlands "" live on Star Sports or Ten Sports at 5 pm today. So what can you expect at Montreal and Assen?

Most drivers are looking forward to tackle the oddly exciting street circuit at Montreal. Renault is upbeat and determined, for they want a piece of Canadian action this year for sure. Reigning champion Fernando Alonso was forced to retire after getting intimate with the notorious Champions Wall last year, while team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella's car, well, expired.

As Alonso said, 'It's on my to-do list for 2006.' The championship leading Spaniard is expected to calm down a bit and consolidate his lead in Canada, given that he is 23 points ahead and that the season is more or less halfway now. But he plans to remain as aggressive as ever, saying Ferrari will remain a season-long threat.

In the Ferrari camp, Michael Schumacher sees his title hopes dimming, but he likes the Montreal weekend, so he and his team-mate Felipe Massa are obviously looking to repeat the 2-3 Ferrari enjoyed last year.

However, the rest of the teams already look like they believe third place is the best they can get. The circuit itself plays havoc with the cars, of course, opening up on Thursday with a dusty track that eventually gives way to a clean racing line only.

The combination of high-speed straights and very slow speed corners means that the cars will run low downforce settings with the opening practices spent tuning the balance and setup for mechanical grip and kerb bashing.

News is that Fisichella's contract with Renault has been renewed and that Alonso, who moves to McLaren next season, will be replaced by a Finn. No, not Kimi. Narain Karthikeyan's long-standing foe in the World Series by Nissan, Heikki Kovalainen, the highly regarded young Finnish driver is rumoured to be Renault's second driver. A confirmation (or denial) is expected at the French GP in Magny-Cours.

And on the east side of the Atlantic, the MotoGP brigade are off to one of the oldest tracks on the calendar. This year, the superfast right hand turn one at Assen has been altered into a series of right handers, so that will be new for all riders.

After the horrific crash last time out, Gibernau who appeared to "start" the accident is out for two weeks, and will be replaced by Alex Hoffman. Capirossi and Melandri escaped with light injuries and while far from 100 per cent fit, are expected to race.

They are under pressure as MotoGP god Valentino Rossi finally seems to have the bike he's been asking for, and looks like he will make up the 29 point difference to Hayden, the points leader, in no time. Nicky Hayden, in the meantime, knows that his consistency is the only thing that can bring him his first MotoGP title.

At the other end of the paddock, Team Roberts tasted sweet podium champagne for the first time since they started out in the 1990s, and promise that their Honda-powered KR211V is going to turn more heads in Assen. Some potato chips need to be organised then...