MotoReview

The race started in almost the exact opposite way that it finished last year with with the first couple of laps proving to be decisive.

Valentino Rossi had the obligatory good start from the third row and made up some ground on the leaders, but his success was to be short lived. As the riders all bundled into the first corner, all aiming for the same racing line, Toni Elias clipped Rossi's back wheel which sent both bike and rider tumbling onto the run-off area.

Further exaggerating the Camel Yamaha team's bad luck was the fact that Rossi's teammate Colin Edwards lost a huge amount of time avoiding the accident, rejoining the action right at the back of the pack.

Rossi, meanwhile, managed to get his Yamaha M1 up and running once again, albeit with some damage to the right-hand side. He opted not to retire and began the process of catching up to the other riders, who were by now long gone.

As the race began to unfold, the two Marlboro Ducatis led the way with Sete Gibernau following pole-man Capirossi. MotoGP rookies Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner (who started 15th!) were also in the thick of things along with the Fortuna Honda riders.

Then, on just the second lap, Sete Gibernau raised his hand and moved off the racing line - there was a problem with the bike and he would have to retire. You have lucky people and unlucky people, then you have Gibernau.