Despite Valentino Rossi getting the jump on his teammate Jorge Lorenzo into the first corner of the Jerez circuit,
many thought it would only be a matter of time before the Spaniard moved to the front and pulled away in trademark fashion.
Much to the delight of the VR46 Army, Rossi fended off Lorenzo and then slowly opened the gap over the 27-lap race to win by a comfortable 2.386 seconds.
Following the race Lorenzo said that excessive rear wheel spin had forced him to roll off the throttle down the straights, costing him any chance of victory.
“The only thing is that we could have won the race without the problem on the front straight,” Lorenzo said.
“Going through the gears the bike didn‘t stop spinning and I couldn‘t fully open the throttle. Just when I started recovering metres on Rossi this problem started, so I had to slow down a lot and I didn‘t have the chance to fight with him for the victory, but sometimes this happens. Now Michelin have to find out what is going on. They improved the front tyre and now I am sure they’ll work on the rear to solve these kinds of issues.”
