Valentino Rossi began brilliantly to defending his MotoGP World Championship title with a win in Qatar, the Fiat Yamaha competitor is now clearly focussing on the next round at Jerez following an eventful few weeks.

Since the delay of the Grand Prix of Japan pushed to October 3rd and the well publicised volcano, the whole MotoGP field has received more time to prepare for the Gran Premio bwin de España, and the Jerez track has been very successful for Rossi many times.

Along with last season, Rossi has been victorious at the Andalusian circuit 3 times with Yamaha, and has eight victories over all classes at the track.  The current World Champion is positive that the small injury he incurred in a motocross training incident will not affect his prospects in Spain.

“Of course it was a pity not to go to Japan, Yamaha's home race, but we will go in October now and for me it was quite lucky to have this extra week,” explains the Doctor. “I didn't hurt myself badly in the motocross fall but my shoulder was quite sore so it was good to give it more time to recover. I don't know yet how much it will affect me this weekend, I hope not too much.”

Rossi still believes that some small improvements can be made at a circuit he enjoys, and is currently motivated by the 120,000 spectators expected.

“The win in Qatar was fantastic but we saw there that we are lacking in some areas compared to our rivals so we have work to do,” he adds. “I love to race at Jerez, the atmosphere is amazing and I have fantastic fans in Spain. Last year I had a great win and I hope we can challenge again this time."