Preview - Czech Republic Grand Prix.

After a hectic June and July, the MotoGP traveling show of around 1500 personnel has enjoyed a welcome break before starting the final third of the season, in which all three riders' world championship titles will be decided.

The first of the six remaining stops is this weekend's Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno, which Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden will start with an impressive 34 point MotoGP championship lead over his rookie team-mate Dani Pedrosa. Hayden signed off before his holiday with a magnificent home win at the US Grand Prix - it was the 25 year old's second win of the season and, with world champion Valentino Rossi scoring no points after retiring with mechanical problems, could well have been the pivotal moment in the 2006 campaign.

Hayden's best finish at Brno was a fifth place last year while Pedrosa, who has also won two grands prix this season, has a good record at the undulating track, winning the 125 in 2003 and the 250s last year, both times en route to world championship success. Another former 250cc World Champion, Marco Melandri, moved into third place in the championship after a third place in America for Fortuna Honda. He trails Pedrosa by just ten points after also winning two grands prix and has also tasted success at Brno winning the 250cc race four years ago and the 125s in both 1998 and 1999.

Meanwhile, Rossi arrives at a circuit where he won his first grand prix ten years ago, trailing his former team-mate Hayden by 51 points following his demise in America. The Italian Camel Yamaha rider has won four more times in Brno including the MotoGP race last year. It is an enormous points deficit between himself and Hayden to pull back in six races, but Rossi will exert pressure both on and off the track. The world champion is fully aware he must win on Sunday to increase that pressure.

Loris Capirossi hopes to be 100 per cent fit following the break. The Ducati Marlboro rider had never completely recovered from the injuries he sustained in the first bend crash in Barcelona when he started the Grand Prix of Catalunya as joint championship leader with Hayden. The former 125 and 250cc World Champion has since dropped to fifth place fighting for fitness, but will be looking for a repeat of the form that tok him to victory in Jerez this year and second place at Brno last year.

Capirossi's team-mate Sete Gibernau hopes to compete after another operation on the collarbone he injured in the Barcelona accident. The Spaniard has a good record at Brno winning in 2004 and starting from pole last year.

Brno is a big race for 20 year old Australian Casey Stoner, who's crashed out, albeit in the morning warm-up in Germany, at the last two races. Despite his problems the LCR Honda rider still lies sixth in the championship as he approaches a very important last six races in his debut MotoGP season.

American Colin Edwards did not particularly enjoy the summer break after a crash and then engine problems wrecked his chances of winning the Suzuka 8 Hour race in Japan. The Texan, who is Rossi's team-mate, is seventh in the championship and coming under real pressure from another American, Kenny Roberts.

The former 500cc World Champion and his Oxfordshire-based KR team are having a revival of fortunes this season, with the help of Honda power and Michelin tyres. Roberts will probably have a new frame at Brno and is only five points behind Edwards and 12 points behind sixth placed Stoner.

The Rizla Suzuki team faces the last six races with renewed confidence following Chris Vermeulen's pole position at Laguna Sega. Both Australian Vermeulen and American John Hopkins have put in some impressive performances this year which have not always been reflected in their results and both are still chasing a debut podium.

The Kawasaki duo of Shinya Nakano and Randy de Puniet are both former 250cc winners at Brno and will be seeking a MotoGP change of fortune, while Spaniard Carlos Checa will be looking to at least repeat his seventh place at Laguna riding the Tech 3 Yamaha.

The 250 and 125cc riders return to the fray after a week longer break because they had no races in America.

The 250cc championship is the closest with Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo grabbing the lead by a single point from Italian Andre Dovizioso after his third place in Germany. The Fortuna Aprilia rider has won five grands prix this season and was a winner of the 125cc race in Brno two years ago. Dovizioso finished on the podium at the first eight races but has slipped off in the last two, while his Humangest Honda Racing Team team-mate Yuki Takahashi who won the last round in Germany, hopes to be fit after breaking his arm practicing for the Suzuka 8 hour race.

Spaniard Alvaro Bautista enjoyed his summer break with a massive 64 point lead over Finn Mika Kallio in the 125cc class. The 21 year old Master-MVA Aspar Aprilia rider has won four grands prix this season. His biggest threat on Sunday may not come from the KTM of Kallio but from his team-mates Mattia Pasini, who won in Germany, Hector Faubel and Sergio Gadea.