Yes, I was reading today that Assen, although run on Saturday, had almost 8 million viewers in Italy. They expect that during the season motogp will pass F1 in viewership (currently a tad above 8 mil, not counting Indianapolis), and this is in a country where F1 is just about a religion! Valentino is a reason, but it's the quality of the races too. If Vale always won by 2 laps, I doubt people would watch. My 79-year-old mom back in Italy, who usually never watches sports, started watching motogp and she is hooked! She says she has never seen so many thrilling races.