No I wouldn't want to turn up at a Grand Prix without having done ANY testing. I just think there is too much of it.
Add to the testing all the blurb and the P.R. Drives me mad.
Agreed, there has to be some testing, but is there too much?
My apologies again to Malcolm, nearly everything that you post is of interest, and is greatly valued by all of us.

Re the theoretical extra practising in the IOM, there would always have been a consideration as to how much mileage the bikes could stand. Thus whilst there were years when the weather and/or breakdowns restricted the number of laps completed, there were also years when you had done all the laps that you could, bearing in mind how many miles the engine had left in it.