MotoReview

With every lap completed it became clearer that this race was going to be all about age and experience in the form of Loris Capirossi and youth, sheer skill and determination in the form of Spaniard Dani Pedrosa. The crowd made clear their favourite.

Pedrosa in second consistently lapped quicker than the Ducati, and indeed his teammate Nicky Hayden in third. At one point the gap was just a quarter of a second and it looked as though he could become the youngest ever MotoGP race winner on his debut. Capirossi wasn't about to let that happen though and put in a succession of quick laps that Pedrosa couldn't match. When they crossed the line Pedrosa was 4.3 seconds behind but it was nonetheless a stunning performance by a rider who is surely a future champion.

Other performances of note were Toni Elias coming fourth ahead of teammate Melandri, Casey Stoner sixth from fifteenth on the grid on his debut and Kenny Roberts Jr beating ex-Suzuki teammate John Hopkins which is bound to have raised a smile.

Valentino Rossi eventually managed to bring his battle-scarred M1 home in 14th position which means the world champ goes into round two with just 2 points. 

Round two of the MotoGP season takes place on Saturday the 8th of April in Qatar.

Spanish MotoGP Resuts

1) Loris Capirossi Ducati Marlboro Team
2) Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 4.375
3) Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 9.996
4) Toni Elias Fortuna Honda 10.135
5) Marco Melandri Fortuna Honda 19.547
6) Casey Stoner Honda LCR 21.237
7) Shinya Nakano Kawasaki Racing Team 21.372
8) Kenny Roberts Jr Team Roberts 32.414
9) John Hopkins Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 32.659
10) Makoto Tamada Konica Minolta Honda 35.983
11) Colin Edwards Camel Yamaha Team 37.93
12) Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 39.514
13) Carlos Checa Tech 3 Yamaha 42.829
14) Valentino Rossi Camel Yamaha Team 1'05.766
15) Alex Hofmann Pramac d'Antín MotoGP 1'23.300
16) James Ellison Tech 3 Yamaha 1 lap
17) Jose Luis Cardoso Pramac d'Antín MotoGP 14 laps - DNF
18) Randy De Puniet Kawasaki Racing Team 21 laps - DNF
19) Sete Gibernau Ducati Marlboro Team 25 laps - DNF 

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