Despite the fact that most of the machinery raced in MotoGP is Japanese, of course the various teams are based in Europe. Severe flight restrictions had hit that continent due to an ash cloud from an erupting Finnish volcano, and for that reason the race at Motegi had been postponed until October. The scheduled third round at Jeréz would become the second outing for the new season.

This development was lucky for Rossi, who had hurt his shoulder in a motocross accident a week before the scheduled Japanese race. With an extra week for recovery, he was able to compete in Spain with the help of oral painkillers. He had not been ready for action on the weekend that would have seen the Motegi race.

Jeréz is a fairly compact racing circuit, always well attended for MotoGP racing, with a number of flowing and slower corners, plus a couple of short straights. Starting in 1997, Rossi has won eight GP races at this track, the last being in 2009. The two Spanish heroes Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa had both won twice here, as had experienced Loris Capirossi and 800cc class rookie Marco Simoncelli. Hiroshi Aoyama, Álvaro Bautista and Mika Kallio had also all won here.

Following on from a disappointing first race on the new Honda RC212V, Repsol team leader Pedrosa had a new chassis this time. Although he remained unhappy with the bike’s inconsistent handling, Dani nevertheless ended qualifying with pole position - something he managed only twice all last year. Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was back in ninth, behind the customer Honda of LCR team rider Randy de Puniet, who was sixth.

With his injured shoulder, Rossi was ‘only’ fourth, and so Fiat Yamaha team-mate Lorenzo was Pedrosa’s nearest challenger in second. The pole man from Qatar, Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner was third here, with partner Nicky Hayden fifth. Both riders suffered crashes during practice. The second Yamaha team pair were together between de Puniet and Dovizioso. For Tech 3, Colin Edwards was seventh and Ben Spies was eighth on a circuit that was new to him.

Back in the Gresini Honda team that he had raced for in 2005-07, Marco Melandri had qualified last in Qatar, but was finding his way already and would start tenth here. Team-mate Simoncelli was in P16. Rizla Suzuki pair Capirossi and Bautista were in P11 and P13 respectively, split by Aoyama on the Interwetten Honda. They were followed by Héctor Barberá (Aspar Ducati), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Ducati), Simoncelli and Kallio (Pramac).

A familiar sight at the race start was that of Pedrosa getting away well to lead, in this case made easier by starting first. Rossi was second, with Hayden up to third, from Lorenzo, Stoner and Spies. Dovizioso soon moved past Melandri for seventh, with Capirossi ninth. Pedrosa and Rossi began to start stretching out an advantage as Lorenzo had to grapple with the Ducati pair.

The back straight at Jeréz follows a crest at the end of the long right Curva Sito Pons, and leads into the tight right Curva Dry Sack, an out-braking opportunity. Stoner went to the inside of Lorenzo approaching Dry Sack, which got him through for fourth at the corner. Also under pressure early on was Spies, soon passed by Dovizioso and with Melandri then on his tail. With Pedrosa and Rossi out front, Dovizioso was starting to target the second group of Hayden, Stoner and Lorenzo. Capirossi made a disappointing exit when he crashed at the final left-handed Curva Ducados hairpin.

Third man Hayden began to open a gap over the next rider, but when Lorenzo re-passed Stoner the Spaniard began to close in again and leave Casey in his wake. Dovizioso was in touch by this time. Spies had by now dropped behind the Gresini riders Melandri and Simoncelli, with Ben soon parking the Yamaha in its garage with a faulty front tyre. Espargaró had already been into the pits himself with damage following a minor crash. He would go out again (twice) before ending the day three laps down on everyone else.

One-third of the way into the 27-lap race saw Pedrosa with a one-second lead over Rossi, and a bigger gap back to Hayden and Lorenzo. Jorge went to the right of Nicky on the back straight, with the Ducati man braking later to defend at Dry Sack. However, he went just a bit wide so that Lorenzo was able to pass by getting in tight to the apex. The Spanish fans now had their own riders in first and third, and from there Jorge was able to ease away from Nicky and get a bit closer to the men in front.

Unable to match the first four, Stoner had the measure of Dovizioso and kept just clear of the Honda rider. Meanwhile, the next places were being disputed by more Honda pilots. Melandri held seventh, but team-mate Simoncelli was challenging. The first right-hander, Curva Expo ’92, saw the new boy overtake on the inside; then the second corner, right-handed Curva Michelin, saw Melandri reverse the order again. By now de Puniet had got ahead of Edwards and was right with the Gresini pair.

Pedrosa’s lead was growing and had got to 1.8s by half-distance, and was going up to 2.0s, but the second part of the race saw Lorenzo closing in on second man Rossi. Going into the later stages, Dani’s advantage was around the 1.4s to 1.5s mark, but with six laps remaining Jorge was right with Valentino. Using the slipstream effect, Lorenzo moved to the inside for Dry Sack and took second. With his shoulder problem affecting him under braking, Rossi had to be content with third as the best he could at this stage.

Going into the last few laps with two home riders at the front, three laps to go saw Pedrosa ahead of Lorenzo by 1.1s. One lap later the charging Yamaha man had reduced this to under 0.5s and Dani was in danger. That penultimate lap saw Jorge try to get through at Dry Sack, braking on the inside, but Dani held him off. At the final Ducados hairpin there was a minor clash as Lorenzo tried to get round Pedrosa on the outside. The last lap saw Jorge again on the inside for Dry Sack, this time with Dani making a late, wide turn in the corner, where cement dust had been put down earlier, and Jorge getting through.

Lorenzo had the better pace for the final seven bends, securing the win, from Pedrosa, and with Rossi still quite close in third. The closing laps saw Hayden maintain his fourth place over team-mate Stoner, with Dovizioso further back in sixth. The race behind them had seen Simoncelli get in front of Melandri again on the inside at the Curva Angel Nieto right-hander, then the reverse move happen again at Expo ’92. Thereafter, Simoncelli fell victim to attacks from behind, ending up eleventh.

Kallio’s progress had taken him past Edwards and de Puniet, passing Simoncelli at Dry Sack, and finally getting ahead of Melandri for seventh. Ninth went to de Puniet, from Bautista, Simoncelli, Edwards, Barberá, Aoyama and eventually Espargaró. Only Spies and Capirossi did not make the finish.

The winner followed his Lorenzo’s Land flag celebration by exuberantly jumping into a pond or mini-lake within the confines of the track tarmac. With Jorge in front of Valentino Rossi, the pair split by Dani Pedrosa, it was the 22-year-old (23 two days after the race) who held the world championship lead by four points.

Despite a winning record at many of the circuits, in eight previous GP races at Jeréz, Casey Stoner had achieved mostly fifth and sixth place finishes. Only in last year’s race did he manage a podium result in coming third - for some reason this track just doesn’t see him at his dominant best. With Nicky Hayden now managing to get to grips with the latest Desmosedici machine, Casey was behind Nicky here, the American surprisingly in closer contention with the series leaders at this stage. On an encouraging day for Honda, there are signs that Yamaha just may not have it all their way this season.

Standings after two races: Lorenzo 45; Rossi 41; Pedrosa 29; Dovizioso and Hayden 26; de Puniet 17; Edwards 12; Spies, Melandri and Stoner 11.
Yamaha 50; Honda 36; Ducati 26; Suzuki 13.

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