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MotoGP arrives at Europe after time off

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MotoGP arrives at Europe after time off

The second race of the 2010 MotoGP world championship arrives at Jerez, Spain, marking the start of the European season. This was meant to be the third race on the calendar, but due to the Icelandic volcanic eruption, the scheduled second race, the Japanese grand prix, was postponed to 3 October.

Qatar hosted the first race of the season under the floodlights, and it was current world champion Valentino Rossi who took what might be described as a surprise victory, given Casey Stoner’s recent dominance on this track.

This season, Ducati’s Stoner had qualified on pole after being the fastest man all weekend, and having won all three previous Qatar races, led Rossi by a distance after falling back from the start. To the surprise of many, the Australian made a catastrophic error on lap five and unexpectedly slipped off the track to relinquish his lead and the win to The Doctor, with his Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo coming in second and Andrea Dovizioso finishing third.

Rossi is a six-time winner here at Jerez, but he has a battle on his hands after suffering a shoulder injury sustained in a motocross accident a few weeks ago. “Unfortunately the shoulder is still a problem and there is some pain.

“Normally this injury takes three weeks to heal and it's two weeks since it happened now, so I really need another seven days to be fully fit again. I was very lucky that Motegi, Japan, was postponed as it has given me an extra week to work on the shoulder and it has improved very much, but we will only find out how much tomorrow,” said the Italian.

As well as the battle with his shoulder, Rossi has the task of stopping his teammate and closest challenger from last season, Lorenzo, and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa from winning their home grand prix.

“The extra week means the hand feels much better now and it's nice to be here at Jerez. This race is very special for Spanish riders, although I haven't had such good results in MotoGP. I hope this year things can change,” said Lorenzo, who is also recovering from a pre-season hand injury.

Pedrosa added: “Jerez is a special race for the Spanish people and the Spanish riders. I need to take some of this energy and push, even if things aren't perfect with the bike, and focus on the race and a fast lap time.”

Stoner, who struggled with a stomach illness and anaemia for the majority of last season and missed three races as a result, will be looking to bounce back after throwing away the race win in Qatar.

“We just have to look ahead to Jerez and the job that awaits us there. In the past it hasn't been one of the more favourable circuits for us but we made some steps forward last year and finished on the podium.

“We start from zero this time around though and we'll be working hard to find a set-up for the race. You need good handling for this track but also good stability and I think the direction we've taken with development of the GP10 should allow us to be competitive on Sunday,” Stoner said.

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