Jerez MotoGP: Rossi: ‘Dani is hard to catch from behind’

“That was fun but difficult,” Valentino Rossi said of his sixth victory on the Jerez circuit in the Spanish MotoGP race.

“I was quite behind after the first laps. But after I came back I had a great battle with Casey and was able to arrive in second place.

“Dani was then a little more one second in front, and in that situation he is always difficult to catch. There was also one part of the track where I couldn’t gain a lot.

“But for lap after lap I had a steady pace: my bike was good in the settings and was fast as the tyre began to slide. I just tried to concentrate because I knew I had a great pace.”

“I’m so pleased to be on the podium, because for six months I had injury problems when I couldn’t ride my bicycle, I couldn’t train and I couldn’t test on the Honda,” Pedrosa said.

“We just took a gamble with the settings,” Stoner admitted, after claiming his first ever podium at Jerez.

“When Valentino came past I tried to stay in there, but but when he came by again I lost the front too many times to stay in the ballgame.”

Rossi is now 11 points ahead of Stoner in the championship after three rounds, with Pedrosa in third place.