Had you suggested, after Valentino Rossi's triumph at the Malaysian Grand Prix back in October 2010, that it would take the better part of three years for him to win his next MotoGP race, chances are you would have been laughed out of the room.
Yet, before the Italian rider's unexpected triumph at the Dutch TT at Assen almost two weeks ago, it seemed as if Rossi's sixth victory at Sepang would go down in history as his 79th and last in the top tier of motorcycle racing.
Regardless of whether you're a fan of the man they call "The Doctor", you can't deny that Rossi returning to the top step of the podium comes as positive news for the championship - not only because it injects some much needed variety in the Spanish hegemony that has prevailed recently, but also because of the headlines it has generated.
Rossi is to motorcycle racing is essentially what Roger Federer is to tennis. It's the familiar sporting tale of the experienced star striving to fend off the inexorable advances of the next generation; there's always a certain romance when someone like Rossi is able to rekindle some of the old magic and stick it to the upstarts.
Rossi has returned to the factory Yamaha team this season, for whom he previously won the MotoGP title in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009, after two years of what can only be described as profuse struggle at Ducati.
Few doubted that the Rossi-Ducati partnership - a match made in heaven for Italian fans - would be a success when it was announced in the summer of 2010. After all, Casey Stoner, the man whom Rossi would replace, had been winning races aboard the red machine that year, while Rossi was still more or less at the peak of his powers.
With just three podium finishes to show for his two seasons at Ducati however, it came as no surprise when it was announced last summer that Rossi would be departing the team and returning to Yamaha to race alongside his old nemesis Jorge Lorenzo.
The pair had been teammates at Yamaha from 2008 to 2010, and some close on-track battles, most notably Rossi's breathtaking last corner lunge on Lorenzo at Catalunya in 2009, led to an increasingly acrimonious relationship between the pair that was said to be part of the reason for Valentino's move to Ducati.
Lorenzo has since won the title himself on two occasions - firstly in 2010, after Rossi's challenge was derailed by a practice crash at Mugello that ruled him out of four races, and again last year after a closely fought battle with Honda rider Dani Pedrosa.
In 2008, it was Lorenzo, at the time the reigning 250cc champion, who had everything to prove whilst Rossi was the undisputed number one. Five years on, and it's the seven-times champion that has been forced to re-establish his credentials with Lorenzo now considered by many the best in the business.
A competitive second place behind Lorenzo at the season-opener in Qatar was just about as good a start as Rossi fans could have hoped for after two years away from Yamaha. On that basis, few would have foreseen that the rider of the #46 would be absent from the podium for the next five races.
Two fourth places, a sixth, a twelfth after falling in the damp at Le Mans and a retirement as a result of a first-lap crash on home soil at Mugello left Rossi languishing in fifth place in the standings, 63 points away from leader Pedrosa and one place behind satellite Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow.
Even those, myself included, that before the season started had expected Rossi to give Lorenzo a serious run for his money were beginning to find themselves questioning whether the 34-year old's star was irreversibly on the wane. Time was certainly running out for "The Doctor" to diagnose the cause of his competitive illness.
The turning point came a week before the Dutch TT, when Rossi claimed to have made a "breakthrough" during a test session at Aragon. The Italian explained that with the help of some set-up changes, he had been able to rediscover the "feel" in his braking, a lack of which had been previously holding him back.
Additionally, the fact that Lorenzo broke his collarbone during practice for the Assen race meant that there be one less bike standing between him and the top step of the podium, and that Rossi would become the sole focal point for Yamaha's efforts for the weekend.
As it turned out, Lorenzo incredibly took the start of the race and finished in a superb fifth place in spite of his injuries. But, the day without doubt belonged to Rossi, who took a victory every bit as convincing as those MotoGP fans witnessed during his early-to-mid 2000s heyday.
The burning question now is whether Rossi can replicate a similar performance this weekend at the the German Sachsenring circuit. If he genuinely turned a corner during testing at Aragon, there's no reason to think why not, and the fact that Lorenzo will once again not be at full fitness makes the race another golden opportunity for Rossi.
His Assen victory - the 80th premier class win of his career - has cut the gap between him and the championship lead to 51 points. With eleven races still to run, and thus a total of 275 points left up for grabs, that's far from an insurmountable deficit.
At 34 years of age however, Rossi isn't getting any younger. Realistically, 2013 is likely to be his last real stab at championship glory. The odds are of course stacked firmly against Rossi, with bookmakers still offering up to 50/1 for him to pip Pedrosa, Lorenzo and rookie sensation Marc Marquez to the post.
Just imagine the publicity MotoGP would enjoy if Rossi could overcome those odds to take an eighth premier class title. It would be just what "The Doctor" ordered...
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