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Gallery: 2016 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez

Action photos from round 4 of the 2016 MotoGP World championship

April 25, 2016

Movistar Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi qualified on pole for the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, and led every lap on his way to a two-second victory over his teammate, reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo.Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha

The 2016 MotoGP series returned to Europe for round 4 last weekend, with the Spanish Grand Prix being held at Jerez. Valentino Rossi dominated the weekend, qualifying on pole position and leading every lap on his way to victory, something the Italian MotoGP star has never done in his 15-year career in the premier class. Scroll through our gallery to see more images from the race, with quotes from the top riders.

"The bike, in the race, was fantastic," said Rossi after the race. "We worked very well with the team so I have to say “thank you” to the whole Movistar Yamaha MotoGP team, especially my crew. I had a good pace and a good start and felt good with the bike from the beginning, so I could push. Sincerely, it was a special taste to have a win like this"Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha

While Rossi's Movistar Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo made a bid for the lead on the opening lap, he could not match Rossi's pace. Repsol Honda rider and championship points leader Marc Marquez shadowed Lorenzo for several laps, but Lorenzo was able to inch away. "The only thing is that we could have won the race without the problem on the front-straight," said Lorenzo. "Going through the gears the bike didn’t stop spinning and I couldn’t fully open the throttle."Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha

Lorenzo made a late-race charge on Rossi but the Italian was able to up his pace and keep a consistent gap to the 2015 MotoGP World Champion. "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." Lorenzo finished just over two seconds behind Rossi and almost five seconds ahead of Marquez.Courtesy of Movistar Yamaha

While Lorenzo struggled with rear grip problems, Marquez was having trouble with his front tire in the higher race-day temperatures. "I was very focused from the start and I tried to ride strongly and stay with Jorge [Lorenzo], but I could tell that with the higher track temperatures - 11º C higher than yesterday - it was very difficult for me to manage the front tire well. I almost crashed several times, so in the end I made a difficult decision in front of our fans, as we preferred to secure 16 points that will be very positive at the end of the season, which is very long."Courtesy of Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa also had traction problems at Jerez, and for the first time in many years failed to finish on the podium, ending the race in fourth. "We knew it would be a difficult race and we got the position we knew was possible, because the whole weekend the front three were faster than us. I started well, riding hard in the early laps. Then I saw I had difficulties with both the front and rear tyres. I concentrated on keeping my position and I rode at a safe pace so as not to make the rear tyre go off too much as well."Courtesy of Repsol Honda

As in the Grand Prix of the Americas in Texas, Suzuki Ecstar rider Aleix Espargaro finished in fifth spot. Espargaro was able to close in on Pedrosa in the middle laps of the race but could not pass the Honda rider. "I was waiting for this GP because since FP1 in Argentina we have been making continuous steps forward; in every session in Argentina and Austin we registered improvements and I knew we were getting closer. Here we really focused on the preparation for the race, I suffered a little bit in qualifying because I wasn’t able to run fast with the softer tyre, but doing such a fast lap in qualifying with the harder tyre meant that we were ready and competitive for the race. In fact the race pace trials we did during the weekend gave me good feelings towards the race."Courtesy of Suzuki Ecstar

While Maverick Vinales beat his Suzuki Ecstar teammate at the last event, Espargaro turned the tables in Jerez and Vinales finished in sixth position. "Finally the result of the race is not bad, but it was very difficult as I struggled for the whole race with the rear grip and I regret we could have achieved an even better result. We are not exploiting the bike 100%, we still miss something in the set-up or in the tyre performance and this forced me to push very hard in race."Courtesy of Suzuki Ecstar

Andrea Iannone qualified in 11th position and got a poor start to complete lap 1 in 14th place, but charged up to finish seventh in the race. "I didn’t expect such a difficult weekend, and right from the start of practice I did my best to do a quick fix on the situation. In the race I started some way down the grid and this penalized me, especially because I didn’t make a good start and the feeling with the bike in the early laps was not at its best."Courtesy of Ducati

Pol Espargaro came out on top of a battle with Eugene Laverty (50), Hector Barbera (8) and Cal Crutchlow (35) to finish as top satellite rider in eighth place. "At the beginning I was just adjusting to the conditions, but I upped the pace in the middle and then went quick at the end. I feel, along with some of the other satellite riders for sure, that the gap to the factory guys is still considerable. We saw them going and just had to think about the end of the race otherwise we would wear the tire and not finish."Courtesy of Tech3

Andrea Dovizioso had bad luck for the third event in a row, this time being forced to retire from the race with a mechanical problem on his Ducati Desmosedici. "It was a pity because another no-points score in the championship was the last thing I needed. We had a problem with the water pump: some water came out and finished on the rear wheel and I almost crashed three times so had to retire. If however we try and look at the positives, we are working well, my feeling with the bike is good and this is the most important thing for me, even though it’s true that here at Jerez we never managed to be as competitive as in the first three GPs."Courtesy of Ducati