MotoGP 2006 - Round One

The opening race of the 2006 MotoGP season, the Gran Premio betandwin.com de España took place today under clear blue skies and in front of 131,162 fans who packed the banked grandstands. In a dramatic start to the season, Ducati's Loris Capirossi led the race from start to finish, but needed to use all of his experience to hold off young local rookie Dani Pedrosa.

Beside the incredible story at the front of the race, the action at the first corner was the scene of another of the day's major talking points. As several riders battled for scarce space on the track, reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi was knocked to the ground, sliding along the tarmac and into the gravel on turn one. His Yamaha was left stricken on the side of the track but he managed to pick it up, and despite being 40 seconds behind the pack, finished the race in 14th.

Up front, the Ducati riders held their top two places from the front row of the grid, but Sete Gibernau was to suffer misfortune just two laps later, almost coming into contact with third placed Nicky Hayden after a mechanical problem. The Spaniard was disconsolate as he was forced to return to the pits, whilst his teammate Capirossi used his pole position to maximum advantage by opening up a three-second gap.

Behind him, rookie Dani Pedrosa looked to be making a move for the lead. In the early stages he had put the pressure on American team-mate Nicky Hayden, aware that Capirossi was making a break. The young Spaniard pulled a daring manoeuvre early on and then set about making up ground on the leader. Towards the middle of the race the debutant was within sniffing distance of Capirossi, but after the Italian resisted his brief attack, Pedrosa settled for an incredible second place in his first ever MotoGP race.

Hayden continued his streak of five podium finishes, although third place was by his own admission distant. The Honda riders came back from a relatively disappointing test in Jerez two weeks ago to claim five of the top six places.

Spaniard Toni Elias was one of those Hondas, and gave an impressive performance in his first race on the RC211V. He overtook fellow Honda Gresini rider Marco Melandri to the delight of the masses of fans at Nieto corner, and subsequently closed in on Hayden's third position in the final laps. He eventually had to settle for fourth by just 0.139 seconds, after having proved his value to his new team, whilst rookie Casey Stoner showed no ill-effects of his recent shoulder operation as he finished in sixth behind Melandri, holding off Shinya Nakano for the entire race.

Nakano, Kenny Roberts Jr, John Hopkins and Makoto Tamada completed the top ten, with Randy de Puniet and Jose Luis Cardoso the only other riders to join Gibernau on the list of retirees.

Jorge Lorenzo took victory with an awesome display at the Jerez circuit, giving the home crowd two winners out of the first two races of the day. With Alex de Angelis for company at the halfway stage of the race, Lorenzo pulled away from the San Marino rider, and opening up a lead which took him to the flag. De Angelis rode a solid race into second, whilst a late charge by Yuki Takahashi kept the interest up for third place.

Andrea Dovizioso and Hector Barbera had battled for the entire race for third spot, but when the Japanese rider arrived to the chasing group he was lapping a second quicker. A fiery last lap saw Dovizioso and Barbera bashing fairings, with Takahashi also involved in the battle. In the end Barbera was forced wide and a defensive last corner manoeuvre saw Dovizioso hang on to the final podium spot from Takahashi. Barbera and Aoyama completed the top six, leading Locatelli, Cardenas, Guintoli and Vincent.

Alvaro Bautista opened his 125cc account for both season and career at today’s 125cc race. The Spanish youngster gave the home crowd something to cheer about early on with an impressive performance, finishing well ahead of Lukas Pesek and Mattia Pasini, who took second and third.

Pesek had the best start, whilst Pasini dropped to sixth from pole. However Bautista moved himself to the front on lap 2, and after exchanging places with Pesek, turned on the gas as he broke away and never looked back. Pesek managed the gap back to the chasing group to hold on to second, whilst Pasini held off the challenges from Julian Simon and Mika Kallio to seal third.

MotoGP

1st, Loris Capirossi: "I got away well, and didn't see the incidents behind me at turn one. I pushed hard and tried to open up a gap, but then I was surprised to see Nicky and then Dani coming up close behind me. I tried to extend the gap once again and I think the fact that we prepared really well in the test here showed through. We have the perfect bike and the perfect tyre for the job and I hope it is the start of many more victories for us this year."

2nd, Dani Pedrosa: "It was a fantastic race for us today. I think I was lucky not to get involved in the first crash, and then seeing Gibernau go off let me make up the places. I had to regain positions after a bad start, but then I had a few problems with the front tyre. I thought maybe I could catch Loris, but then I decided to give up the chase and settle for second place. Anyway, it’s the first race, the team and Michelin have done really well and there are still 16 races to go. I think we will get better. I’m really happy with this second place.

3rd, Nicky Hayden: "I tried to keep up during the early part of the race, but I knew I didn't quite have the pace. We were just missing that last little bit of speed today. However, two weeks ago I didn’t have a chance in tests here, and we’ve made a lot of progress since then. Its a distant third but I’ll take it and run with it. It’s just the first of sixteen races, so let's see where we go from here. The fans here in Jerez are crazy, I’ve really enjoyed riding in front of them.

250cc

1st, Jorge Lorenzo: "I have never felt like I do today, this is the best day of my life so far. Winning my first 250 race in front of my home fans is very special, and it wasn't an easy race. I thought after the first few laps that things were going to be difficult, but in the second half I picked up a good rhythm and it carried me to the line. I'm so happy, this is the best way to start the new season with a new bike."

125cc

1st, Alvaro Bautista: "It's always a great feeling to win a race, but to win your first Grand Prix here, at Jerez, in front of all the Spanish fans, and after having changed teams during winter, the feeling is incredible. I really wasn't expecting this today, but I want to thank my team for getting my bike right, and also the fans for their fantastic support during the whole weekend."