250cc

At a crowded Jerez, although with fewer spectators than usual, the crowd witnessed one of the most memorable races in its history ever, comparable because of the emotion, the four won by the man who was the local hero, �lex Crivill�, much more so because of the way it came. Toni El�as, with 12 stitches in his left hand after an operation, worked miracles and with a super-human effort and riding with all his heart got the only Spanish victory this weekend. This unbelievable triumph had a calming effect on the 128 423 spectators who had no other consolation year.

With El�as� physical conditions it was unthinkable that he would last the whole race but he has shown in the past in both 125cc and 250cc that he has guts and in great pain and with pain killing injections he began to try and win five laps from the end. At the front were De Puniet, Poggiali and Rolfo and one by one he overtook them all. Toni El�as dedicated the victory to Daijiro Kato � he would have done so in South Africa � to his doctors and to himself: �So far this season I lost by very little in Barcelona and Valencia and here I have been able to triumph�.

Fonsi Nieto, alongside El�as�s parents near the podium, understood very well what his team mate was going through. He had the same experience last season. This time he could not fight for the victory, although he started in pole position. Fonsi lost ground and with a feeling of impotence he finished seventh.

125 cc

His cousin, Pablo Nieto, was even more frustrated since, starting strongly from pole position he able to be at the front until his brake lever broke. Pablo had a good bike and felt sure that he would be able to get the first victory in his life. Daniel Pedrosa was a victim of Stefano Perugini�s conjuring when the Alberto Puig rider got back up into the lead from fourth position. But the Italian has lost time doing beginner�s tricks and Dani got stuck behind him.

MotoGP

Valentino Rossi got his fifth victory in Jerez to become the rider who has won most races at this track. The champion rode like one and did not allow either Sete Gibernau who was glued to his wheel until he fell, nor the Ducati rider who had the pole to take victory away from him. Max Biaggi finished second and Troy Bayliss got his first podium and the first for Ducati in MotoGP. Gibernau recognized that he made an unforgivable error and Carlos Checa explained that an electric problem forced him to abandon �

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