May 03, 2009

Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi has clinched his first MotoGP race of the year and the championship lead, with victory in in front of 120,000 fans in Jerez.

Local Dani Pedrosa took the lead for the first half of the race, but Rossi was able reel him in to take a comfortable win.

Australia’s Casey Stoner finished in third place, for his best ever result at the Jerez track in southern Spain.

The win was Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi's 98th of his career and he now leads the championship from Ducati's Stoner by 11 points.

However the Italian admitted it should be a fight to the death for this season's crown.

"There's been three winners in three races, so it looks like the championship will be very tight this year. I will have to stay very concentrated at each and every race," said Rossi, who was surprised with his victory.

"It's been a strange weekend. On Friday (free practice) I was very fast then Saturday I had a lot of problems with the bike. We then made a few technical changes before the race and things seemed to work better as of this morning."

Starting fourth on the grid behind teammate Jorge Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner, Rossi overtook the Australian on the sixth of the race's 27 laps before then trying to chip away at Pedrosa's advantage.

The Spaniard had led for the first 17 laps of the 4.423km circuit but on the 18th he could only watch as Rossi slipped past him and into the race lead.

Lorenzo, championship leader after the Motegi race, crashed with four laps remaining as he lost the front end of his bike. He was forced to go back into the pits after pushing too hard to snatch third position from Stoner.

Australia's Chris Vermeulen finished a disappointing 10th on board his Suzuki.

Spaniards Lorenzo and Pedrosa sit third and fourth respectively in the championship after three of 17 races.

The MotoGP now moves to France for the fourth race of the season in two weeks time.


Jerez MotoGP Results
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA-Yamaha) 45min 18.557sec
2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP-Honda) +2.700sec
3. Casey Stoner (AUS-Ducati) +10.507
4. Randy de Puniet (FRA-Honda) +31.893
5. Marco Melandri (ITA-Kawasaki) +33.128
6. Loris Capirossi (ITA-Suzuki) +34.128
7. Colin Edwards (USA-Yamaha) +34.421
8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA-Honda) +34.625
9. Toni Elias (ESP-Honda) +42.689
10. Chris Vermeulen (AUS-Suzuki) +45.183

MotoGP Standings
1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) 65
2. Casey Stoner (AUS) 54
3. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP) 41
4. Dani Pedrosa (ESP) 41
5. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) 30
6. Colin Edwards (USA) 26
7. Randy de Puniet (FRA) 24
8. Marco Melandri (ITA) 23
9. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) 21
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) 19