Spanish Grand Prix
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Sunday 10th April 2005

ROSSI OPENS TITLE DEFENCE WITH DETERMINED VICTORY AT JEREZ

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.

VALENTINO ROSSI, 1st (Race time - 45'43.156; Fastest lap - 1'40.496)

"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, 9th (Race time - 46'20.764; Fastest lap - 1'41.596)

"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 - 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."

RESULTS

 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Gauloises Yamaha Team  45'43.156
 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Movistar Honda MotoGP       +8.631
 3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Movistar Honda MotoGP     +18.460
 4. Alex Barros (BRA) Camel Honda                  +26.938
 5. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team       +27.659
 6. Troy Bayliss (AUS) Camel Honda                 +28.509
 7. Max Biaggi (ITA) Repsol Honda Team             +30.618
 8. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda       +36.887
 9. COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Gauloises Yamaha Team      +37.608
10. Carlos Checa (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team        +39.678

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

 1. VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA)  25
 2. Sete Gibernau (SPA)    20
 3. Marco Melandri (ITA)   16
 4. Alex Barros (BRA)      13
 5. Shinya Nakano (JPN)    11
 6. Troy Bayliss (AUS)     10
 7. Max Biaggi (ITA)        9
 8. Makoto Tamada (JPN)     8
 9. COLIN EDWARDS (USA)     7
10. Carlos Checa (SPA)      6