Double podium glory for Fiat Yamaha Team in Jerez

Valentino Rossi returned to the top step of the podium today after leading for all 27-laps of the Grand Prix of Spain, taking his first victory since Sepang last year and his 46th win of the four-stroke MotoGP era. Rossi's 26th win for Yamaha also makes him the most successful rider at Jerez in the premier class, with five wins at the Spanish track. He was joined for the podium celebrations by his team-mate Colin Edwards, who rode a strong race from fourth on the grid to stay in contention behind Dani Pedrosa, eventually finishing third and taking his seventh MotoGP podium in front of a record crowd of 138,000.

Both Yamahas got a good start off the line, Edwards riding around the outside of Carlos Checa to take third at turn two and Rossi passing pole-sitter Pedrosa to take the lead shortly after. By the fourth lap the leading trio had begun to pull away from Nicky Hayden and John Hopkins and Rossi had started to stretch his lead on Pedrosa, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap five. Despite a strong showing from the Spaniard in front of his home crowd, Rossi's lead never looked in jeopardy and he eventually crossed the line 1.246 seconds in front. Edwards meanwhile never stopped pushing in third place, spurred on by the looming Honda of Toni Elias in the latter stages. Tyre worries for the pair proved unfounded as their Michelins worked well to the flag and Rossi and Edwards now take first and fourth in the Championship after two rounds of the eighteen-race season.    Valentino Rossi Position: 1stTime: 45'53.340 "After the situation at this race last year, this is much, much better! Our first priority today was to get points and I knew that to win I would have to ride at the maximum, but today my Yamaha really flew and I was able to do a great race. It feels like a long time since I last won and this is a great emotion and a very special victory for me, especially in Jerez in front of this great crowd. Qatar was good but to taste victory again is a wonderful feeling. We had some problems on Friday and again yesterday and then after this morning's warm-up we made some more small modifications; I have to thank my team, from Jeremy Burgess to all my mechanics and engineers. They did a fantastic job for me this weekend and they all deserve this win. My tyre worked very well today and Michelin have done a good job too in difficult conditions, so thank you to them. I got a great start, didn't make any mistakes and had a good battle with Pedrosa, who we knew would be the danger today. I'm really happy for Colin too and to have both Yamahas on the podium shows that we're in good shape for what's going to be a long season. Now we have two race tracks which might be difficult for us so it's very important to leave here leading the championship."    Colin Edwards Position: 3rdTime: +2.701 "On Friday morning you wouldn't have thought we would end up on the podium, but here we are and it was a good race for me. I've got to say an enormous thank you to all my guys because they worked non-stop all weekend and came up with some pretty good solutions to the problems we had. Michelin also had something up their sleeve for us and seemed to know what would work and they were proved right - they've done a good job for us this weekend. I got a good start and my best move was getting past Checa so quickly; I knew I had to find some clear air and try to hang onto the back of Valentino and Pedrosa. I made a couple of small mistakes and they were able to pull away from me a bit which was a pity, but my bike was working well so I was able to keep a pretty good pace throughout. Towards the end I could see Elias had appeared behind me and I didn't like the idea of him getting spurred on by his home fans and trying to snatch a podium, so I really had to keep hammering away! The last few laps were a little hairy at times as I started to slide but anyway we managed to make it and it feels great to be up here on the podium again."

Davide Brivio - Team Director "It's great to be back with both riders on the podium and especially here in Jerez where we struggled so much in last year's race. It's a really positive sign and shows what a good job our Yamaha engineers have done with our new bike. Everyone has worked very hard over this weekend and the entire team deserves congratulations. The new tyre regulations mean we have to manage what we have very carefully and this is a great result for us. It's also a very important result because we now have two tricky circuits and it's good to be going into this stage of the season in front. Thanks again to all the team and everyone involved, we're very happy today!"

More championship points for Dunlop Yamaha Tech3 Team

There were smiles aplenty in the Spanish sunshine for the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team when both riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada finished in the points at the Spanish Grand Prix, held in front of over 131,000 screaming fans at the technically demanding Jerez circuit. It wasn't only the points that made the team happy as both riders on the new smaller capacity 800cc machines completed the race in a faster time than 2006 confirming the constant improvement of the Dunlop tyres. Both riders became embroiled in their own duel that lasted until the flag as they both exchanged places a number of times, Makoto pipping Sylvain for 14th position by just 0.091 of a second after 27 gruelling laps of the 4.423km track.

In his rookie year of MotoGP, Guintoli, 24-year-old Frenchman, improved his performance every time he left the pit box replicating his efforts of the previous race in Qatar confirming that it will be a season that produces every improving results.

His Japanese team mate is now moving in the same direction as he becomes attuned to his return to Dunlop tyres and with this confidence producing result both riders expect to be closer to the leading battles with the championship now moving to Istanbul for the Grand Prix of Turkey on April 22.    Makoto Tamada Position: 14thTime: +36.653 "Although it wasn't perfect I am happy with the result as I was held up by another rider during the early laps. He was faster in some spots and I was faster in others which caused me to lose a little bit of time but when I got past him I could get away quickly and come back to where Sylvain was so we fought out the rest of the race together which was very good. I was very happy with the bike setting as we used a new front tyre that I hadn't used before. I had a very good feeling with it although the rear spun a little but even at this early stage of the season I know that this will improve as well. Saying that, it was very consistent during the entire race. We have a gap of just three tenths of a second each lap compared to the mid pack so it was only a small gap in comparison to the last race. Being three seconds faster than my race time last year made me happy as well. The fight with the field this year is a lot more than last year and I know my team are happy with me because I kept fighting until the end. This will help everyone because it is important to fight until the very end so we can give the information to Dunlop so they can continue to improve."

Sylvain Guintoli Position: 15thTime: +36.744 "We had had a pretty good weekend and to score another point scoring place is very encouraging. In reality, we have done a much better job here because we are only 36 seconds from the win and six seconds quicker than the time Checa did last year considering the race was four seconds quicker as well. For me it is a big improvement because Jerez is a place I have never done very well at as I've had many troubles here in the past. The entire weekend was a big improvement tyre-wise and I am getting more used to the bike as well. I had a bad first lap but then I caught the group in front of me that were fighting for 10th but I just couldn't manage to stay with them. I had a good fight towards the end with my teammate Makoto which was a lot of fun. I had a very good front tyre which gave me the confidence to push hard throughout the race. The rear was excellent for the early laps which allowed me to catch the group in front and do low 42's. Then like everyone else the grip level dropped off slightly but I could still maintain a rhythm in the high 42's. I am confident of continuing the improvement at the next Grand Prix in Turkey."

Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager "I'm very happy today as I think both our riders had a very good and consistent race. Sylvain had a great start and pushed really hard but Makoto was a bit more cautious. By mid race they were both together and had a very good battle between them so that was great to see. With both riders in the points it's a very good result for us as there was only one crash during the race - that says a lot for the progress we are making. Also more importantly the group in front of us with Capirossi, Barros and De Puniet was very, very close and with just 0.3 second a lap quicker we would've been with them so that's very encouraging - and don't forget Capirossi won here last year. We have made a big step forward especially compared to the previous race, so we are happy. We know the points aren't easy to come by this year considering how close the lap times are, so with both our guys in the points this is a good result and a good boost to our confidence. I am also happy with the lap times throughout the race because they are very consistent doing mid to high 1'42's which is very close to the pack, so I think if we can achieve a better grid position and have a bit more speed in the first five or six laps we will have better results. We are staying here to test for the next couple of days. Unfortunately the weather forecast is for rain, but Dunlop have a big wet test program for us anyway."   Circuit Length: 4423 Temp: 19 Weather: Sunny     2007 MotoGP Spain - Jerez de la Frontera 25/03/2007 Race 1 - 27 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 45'53.430 2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'1.246 3 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'2.701 4 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'4.351 5 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 0'4.993 6 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'10.000 7 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'14.146 8 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'19.969 9 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'24.786 10 Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 0'24.955 11 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 0'25.008 12 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'25.852 13 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 0'26.445 14 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 0'36.653 15 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 0'36.744

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'40.905

 Rider Standings 25/03/2007

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 45 2. Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 36 3. Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 36 4. Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 26 5. Marco Melandri Honda ITA 19 6. Nicky Hayden Honda USA 17 7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 16 8. Toni Elias Honda ESP 15 9. John Hopkins Suzuki USA 13 10. Alex Barros Ducati BRA 12 11. Shinya Nakano Honda JPN 12 12. Carlos Checa Honda ESP 10 13. Alex Hofmann Ducati GER 5 14. Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 4 15. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki FRA 4 18. Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 2 19. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 2

Team Standings 25/03/2007

Pos. Team Points 1. FIAT Yamaha Team 71 2. Repsol Honda Team 53 3. Ducati Marlboro Team 40 4. Honda Gresini 34 5. Rizla Suzuki 29 6. Pramac D'Antin 17 7. Konica Minolta Honda 12 8. Honda LCR 10 9. Kawasaki Racing Team 7 10. Tech3 Yamaha 4 11. Team Roberts 3

Manufacturer Standings 25/03/2007

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 45 2. Ducati 36 3. Honda 36 4. Suzuki 20 5. Kawasaki 7 6. KR212V 3