The season so far: Full GP Review for Jerez

In the second of the Full GP Review look back over the season so far, motogp.com hits Jerez for the Gran Premio bwin.com de España.

After their night riding experience in Qatar, the MotoGP stars headed to Europe for round two of the World Championship, the Gran Premio bwin.com de España. A selection of riders from all three classes got into the mood as early as the pre-race Thursday, taking part in some traditional Spanish customs.

Also warming up for the weekend´s action was a presentation made by Riders for Health, MotoGP´s official charity. A reminder of the good work performed in Africa by the organisation was given ahead of the free practice sessions, which kicked off on Friday.

Jorge Lorenzo was the man touted for home glory at Jerez, at a track where he had been victorious twice in as many years in the 250cc class. His Team Manager Daniele Romagnoli was delighted when the Spaniard took his Fiat Yamaha M1 round fastest on the opening day, whilst Lorenzo himself was pleased with his strong early form.

James Toseland provided a musical interlude to the weekend on Friday evening, belting out some tunes on the piano whilst accompanied by a violinist. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider was suffering from a nasty bout of bronchitis upon arrival in Jerez, but still managed to get out on track to continue his 800cc adaptation.

Qualifying saw another golden performance for MotoGP´s man with the Midas touch, as Lorenzo took his second consecutive pole and kept up his perfect record of premier class top spots, smashing the existing pole position record by over eight-tenths of a second. Dani Pedrosa made sure that Spaniards would have divided loyalties up front by taking second in the session, whilst Colin Edwards completed the front row with his Tech 3 Yamaha M1.

Whilst Lorenzo and Pedrosa were splitting the fanbase, the real King of Spain Juan Carlos was present in the MotoGP paddock on raceday to oversee proceedings. He met the premier class stars before they took to the grid, and also attempted a reconciliation between the two Spanish rivals later in the day…

The first appearance for the two-seat Ducati bike used for the MotoGP X2 was also made on Sunday, with Keith Flint from dance group The Prodigy one of the first to experience the hair-raising thrills of high speed riding as a passenger to former rider Randy Mamola. Another ex-MotoGP star, Alex Criville, ran the rule over the impressive rookie class of 2008.

In the MotoGP race, the expected battle didn´t go quite as expected. Pedrosa broke away from the field, with Valentino Rossi taking his first rostrum of the season in the runner-up spot. Lorenzo continued his perfect podium record with third place and joint leadership of the World Championship, whilst Casey Stoner suffered a nightmare race after suffering mechanical problems, salvaging eleventh from the race.

With round two over and the title picture taking shape, it was time for a visit to Portugal for the third MotoGP race of the season, featured tomorrow on motogp.com.