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Written by:
Colin Young
03/24/2007 - 07:00 PM
Jerez, Spain
Valentino Rossi, John Hopkins (hidden), Marco Melandri, and Loris Capirossi (Photo: Yamaha Racing) ยป More Photos
Valentino Rossi delivered a masterclass in racing and showmanship to win the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez, his fifth victory at the track.
Rossi led every lap of the race to assert his authority and take the lead in the world championship points after two races. Young Australian Ducati rider Casey Stoner, who beat Rossi in the opening race in Qatar, finished fifth as Rossi dominated before a massive roll-out of 132,000 spectators.
Spanish hero and factory Honda rival Dani Pedrosa had no response to Rossi's controlled performance and finished second with Rossi's teammate Colin Edwards third.
After a rocketship start from 11th to fifth at the first corner, America's world champion Nicky Hayden (Honda) faded to finish seventh. Fellow American John Hopkins (Suzuki), riding with a painful wrist injury, crashed out of fourth on lap 17 having just passed Hayden.
This was Rossi's 46th victory of the four-stroke MotoGP era and he completed a classic celebration after running out front for all 27 laps.
A group of Rossi's friends dressed as tenpins gathered trackside as Rossi stopped, bowled an imaginary ball at the human tenpins who promptly fell to the ground; another Rossi clown act that reflected his race superiority. In the process, Rossi ended a five-race losing streak.
"It feels like a long time since I won and this is a great emotion and a very special victory for me, especially in front
"I got a great start, didn't make any mistakes and had a great battle with Pedrosa."
The battle was brief with Rossi overtaking Pedrosa for the lead at the end of the back straight on lap one. It never changed for the remainder of the race.
"At the beginning of the race the pace became very fast and I was trying really hard not to lose too much ground to Valentino in the early laps," Pedrosa said. "From the middle of the race I was a little bit slower than him so I just tried to keep focused and not make any mistakes. The bike felt good today and I enjoyed the battle, even though I wasn't able to fight for the win. I feel a little bit sorry for the fans here because I really wanted to win for them because they are very passionate."
Pedrosa is now equal second in the championship on 36 points with Stoner, both trailing Rossi on 45. Edwards is fourth on 26 points with Hayden's title defense off to a slow start. He is sixth with 17 points.
Edwards said: "I got a good start and my best move was getting ahead of Carlos Checa so quickly, I knew I had to find some clear air and hang onto the back of Valentino and Dani. It feels great to be on the podium again."
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