MotoGP 2005 - Round 1

Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi put the gloss on a perfect start to his defence of the MotoGP World Championship at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez today, smashing the lap record by over two seconds and adding an incredible race victory to the pole position he took in yesterday's qualifying session. The reigning World Champion stalked Sete Gibernau (Honda) for almost the entire race, passing him for the first time two laps from the end but allowing the Spaniard back in front with a mistake halfway through the final circulation.

The pair diced their way through the decisive series of fast right-handers in the second half of the lap before Rossi demonstrated that he has talent and determination in equally abundant measures with a brave pass on the brakes into the final left-hand hairpin.

The Italian's effort was particularly special thanks to the hard work put in by the Gauloises Yamaha Team engineers and staff, who worked against the clock to find the ideal set-up for his YZR-M1 after an uncharacteristic crash in this morning's warm-up. Meanwhile, Rossi's Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards kept his promise of passing as many riders as possible after starting from 15th on the grid. The American made steady progress despite the dusty track surface, making overtaking precarious anywhere off the racing line, eventually sealing ninth place on his Yamaha MotoGP debut.

For the Fortuna Yamaha Team-mates Toni Elias and Ruben Xaus it was also a day of mixed fortunes. In his MotoGP debut Elias put in a strong and consistent performance that left him with four points after finishing 12th on the day. His team-mate Xaus, on the other hand, ended the day with a crash in the first lap and a stop go penalty after entering pit lane too fast while trying to get the damage repaired - ending the day 18th, two laps down.

Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team) - 1st "That was an amazing race, an incredible victory and really difficult, especially after the fall I had this morning in the warm-up. Luckily I wasn't hurt and the team did a great job to fix the problem and set up my other bike for the race. Gibernau set a fast pace from the start but I just tried to stay with him and then attacked at the end. I got in front but I made a mistake on the last lap on the braking and Gibernau got past. We passed each other again in the fast rights but I got a better exit and there was enough space for me to pass him in the final corner, it was the only place where I could pass. We touched, but motorbike races are sometimes like this. I know Sete is not happy but there are going to be 16 more races this year and there will be many more hard battles. The level of this race was really high."

Colin Edwards (Gauloises Yamaha Team) - 9th - "The setting we found for the bike at the tests and during qualifying didn't seem to work after the change in conditions, and with the wind and the dust this morning we decided to make some adjustments. We basically went back to the base setting we'd found at the Phillip Island and Catalunya tests but it didn't work in the way we had hoped. It was a difficult race; it was hard for me to get any traction down. Despite that I was in the fight for sixth until another rider sneaked past on the inside and I lost touch with the group I was following. We were searching for something and didn't find it but we've learnt a lot as a team this weekend. Now we have to move on and put this lesson to good use at Estoril."

Jeremy Burgess, Valentino Rossi's crew chief - "In spite of the problems we had this morning, everything came good for the race - especially Valentino. He rode very intelligently behind Gibernau and then passed him at the end. He opened out 0.3 seconds in the first section and looked comfortable but he made a small mistake, which set up a brilliant finale. It's a great start to the year for us - pole position, a new lap record and the race win. We couldn't ask for more."

Toni Elias (Fortuna Yamaha Team) - 12th - "First of all I'm really happy because I finished my first MotoGP, and I finished it in the points. It all went as we had hoped and I even had a chance to have a good battle with a few quality riders at one stage. Right now I need to keep progressing in this way. keep learning and developing as I have until now. I believe it was a really positive day and I'm even surprised that my physical condition at the end of the race was so good, because it wasn't as physically demanding as I had expected."

Ruben Xaus (Fortuna Yamaha Team) - 18th - "This was not an easy weekend! I wanted to start my first race with Yamaha in a steady way but I'm still trying to figure out where I went wrong. I don't know what happened in the last corner but clearly I made a mistake. I feel so bad for my team and my fans, that's why I attempted to get back out there to do my best despite being so far back. I hope this won't be repeated next weekend."

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