 1 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 This is one of the best MotoGP tracks in the world. It is the first of the European rounds and Europeans consider Jerez to be the start of the GP season. The race conditions were dry with an air temperature of 27° - perfect. Crowd about 130,000. |
 2 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Jenni and I came here in 2006 and walked completely around the track. We were seated at Curva Alex Criville, turn 11 just to the left of the large grandstand at turn 12. Turn 13 Curva Ducados is the U turn that leads onto the main straight. |
 3 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 During Saturday, Rossi analyses his setup with crew chief Jeremy Burgess. The map shows the four timed sections. Interestingly, Rossi concentrated on getting his setup right for turn 8 into turn 9 (Curva Angel Nieto) because he planned overtaking moves there. |
 4 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Grid positions were Row 1: Jorge LORENZO, Dani PEDROSA, Casey STONER Row 2: Valentino ROSSI, Randy DE PUNIET, Loris CAPIROSSI Three Ducatis, including Hayden at 16th, occupied the three last positions. |
 5 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 An interesting side show was Randy de Puniet who had Playboy sponsorship for this round. An attractive young lady joins him on the grid. |
 6 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Pedrosa gets his usual blinding start and enters turn 1 first, closely followed by Casey Stoner. |
 7 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 On lap 1, back in the pack, Colin Edwards leads Andrea Dovizioso. The places change between the two for the entire race with Colin finishing 7th and Andrea close behind in 8th. |
 8 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 On lap 2, using the setup that he had perfected during practice, Rossi goes faster through turn 8 and up the inside of Lorenzo on turn 9, Curva Angel Nieto. Randy de Puniet maintains a fine 5th position. |
 9 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Pedrosa and Stoner maintain their lead as they go around turn 13, Curva Ducados, and down the main straight. |
 10 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Rossi has close competition from Lorenzo for several laps before breaking free. |
 11 50 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 On lap 2, Melandri passes Capirossi to take 7th place but Capirossi passes him again a couple of laps later. Marco takes him again and stays there until nearly the end when Capirossi finishes him off. Marco is doing this on the bike everyone expected to come last. |
 12 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Pedrosa breaks the lap record on lap 2 and again on lap 4 but Rossi breaks it yet again 1 second later. Rossi then reels in Stoner and passes him on at turn 13 on lap 6. However, Stoner repasses Rossi into turn 1. On the next lap, Rossi again passes Stoner at turn 13 but this time holds on to 2nd position. |
 13 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Over the next eleven laps, Rossi gradually draws closer to Pedrosa. Their lap times are very similar for many laps until Pedrosa begins to fade. |
 14 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Rossi passes Pedrosa at turn 9, Curva Angel Nieto, (the one he'd been practising) on lap 17. |
 15 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 This is coming into Curva Dry Sac, turn 6. It's the most difficult corner on the track because it is a hairpin at the end of the back straight. When Rossi needs extra braking performance, he dangles the leg. He says he doesn't know why, it just feels better. |
 16 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Cheered on by the Spanish crowd, Lorenzo pushes hard to catch Casey Stoner but overdoes it and crashes on lap 23 of 26. He rejoins the race but is forced to retire shortly after. |
 17 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Valentino takes his first win of the season. |
 18 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Casey comes a well-earned 3rd on a track that has never suited the Ducati. He said that it "Felt as good as a win". |
 19 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 Valentino is congratulated by Uccio and other members of his team. |
 20 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 This was another heroic effort from Pedrosa who is still riding injured. He earned a lot of respect for his courage but his judgement was in question. |
 21 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 After Casey's outburst at Laguna Seca last year, all seems to be forgotten as Casey and Valentino congratulate each other. |
 22 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 In the end, it was a bit of a procession but a good race nonetheless. Sete Gibernau was the highest placed Ducati at 11. Marco Melandri came a very fine 5th further exorcising last year's demons. He seems assured of a proper ride in 2010. |
 23 Round 3 - Jerez de la Frontera, Sunday, May 03, 2009 With a win and two 2nds, Valentino is comfortably on top. The saddest thing of the lot is to see former champion Nicky Hayden in second last place as Ducati appears to be destroying another career. |
