The last weekend couldn't have been more exciting as Valentino Rossi raced towards the chequered flag at the Spanish MotoGP 2016 (45:28.834 seconds), taking team Movistar Yamaha to victory. The Japanese factory team also scored the second position with Jorge Lorenzo coming in second (+2.386 seconds) at the podium, followed by team Repsol Honda as Marc Marquez finished third (+7.087).
Rossi described the Spanish GP as the perfect weekend as he bounced back from his early exit in Austin earlier this season. Starting from pole, Rossi had a strong start and continued to lead the race from lap one. Lorenzo managed to come close to Rossi's dominance on track and was even briefly successful, but not before the champion surged forward.
The nine-time world champion dropped the fastest lap of the race on lap three, a 1'40.090 seconds and created a 0.7 seconds gap for his pursuers. With the track clear, Rossi hammered down and pushed forward hitting the chequered flag, while Lorenzo after a brief spell worked hard to protect his second position from the fast approaching Marc Marquez.
Tyres still remained an issue at Jerez, as Rossi complained about wheel spin on the straights and claimed to use only half throttle. The soon to be ex-Yamaha rider Lorenzo had complains with the rear tyre, which forced him to slow down and finish the race, which made him lose time against Rossi.
Following the trio was Dani Pedrosa from team Repsol Honda at the fourth spot. Despite the early advantage of soft tyres at the beginning of the race, Pedrosa had to work hard to retain the fourth spot as Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales of team Suzuki put up tough fight.
Talking about standings, Marquez maintains team Repsol Honda still leads the pack with Marquez accumulating 82 points, followed by Lorenzo with 65 points while Rosssi is just seven points behind with 58 points in his bag. The next round of MotoGP championship is scheduled at Le Mans in France from 6-8th May.
