Jerez joy for Rossi

Rossi wins his third successive Spanish MotoGP

MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi bounced back from a terrible start to win Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Fellow Italian Max Biaggi edged his way through to take second and Troy Bayliss of Australia picked up his first podium finish in third.

Rossi, who has now taken an astonishing 13 wins in 19 races since the inauguration of the MotoGP class at the start of last year, said he was delighted with yet another victory at the Andalucian circuit of Jerez.

"This track is very good for me," he said. "But even more important than the win are the 25 points because the championship is a very long one."

Rossi started the race from the second row of the grid and it was the Ducatis, ridden by Bayliss and Loris Capriossi, who dominated the early stages.

World championship standings

1. Valentino Rossi (Honda) 70 points
2. Max Biaggi (Honda) 56
3. Troy Bayliss (Ducati) 40

Former world superbike champion Bayliss powered into the lead, leaving Rossi mired in the middle of the pack.

But it did not take long for the Italian to tactically move through the field on his Repsol Honda and snuff out the Ducati challenge.

Once Rossi was in front, he typically showed no sign of being caught and crossed the Jerez finish line comfortably ahead of the field.

Biaggi on his Pramac-Pons Honda eventually got the better of Bayliss and Capirossi, whose race ended in the gravel, to steal the runners-up spot.

Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams finished in a determined 12th place after struggling with two-stroke KR Proton.

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1. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Honda 46 mins 50.34 secs
2. Max Biaggi (Italy) Honda 46:56.678
3. Troy Bayliss (Australia) Ducati 47:02.422
4. Tohru Ukawa (Japan) Honda 47:06.531
5. Alex Barros (Brazil) Yamaha 47:08.975
6. Makoto Tamada (Japan) Honda 47:14.496
7. John Hopkins (U.S.) Suzuki 47:21.304
8. Shinya Nakano (Japan) Yamaha 47:21.563
9. Nobuatsu Aoki (Japan) Proton KR 47:26.347
10. Olivier Jacque (France) Yamaha 47:27.911
11. Noriyuki Haga (Japan) Aprilia 47:34.098
12. Jeremy McWilliams (Britain) Proton KR 47:34.239
13. Kenny Roberts (U.S.) Suzuki 47:39.236
14. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Aprilia 47:42.473
15. Andrew Pitt (Australia) Kawasaki 47:56.524
16. Alex Hofman (Germany) Kawasaki 47:58.717
17.Marco Melandri (Italy) Yamaha 48:21.355
18. Garry McCoy (Australia) Kawasaki 46:57.072 (one lap behind)