Rossi praises Yamaha's race pace

The world champion had predicted that he would be unable to fight for the win having struggled in qualifying, but his Yamaha was more competitive in race conditions and he came through from fourth to beat Dani Pedrosa to first place - taking the points lead in the process.

"It was a great race, very fun, but also physical," said Rossi.

"My bike worked very well today, I'm so fast with a sliding tyre, and I was able to arrive with Dani, and overtake. There was another nine or ten laps to the end, so I stayed concentrated because I knew it was possible to get the victory.

"Winning here in Jerez is fantastic. It's always a great pleasure."

He admitted that he had remained sceptical about his chances of victory in the early stages, as he ran a quiet fourth at first, behind Pedrosa, Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo.

"From the beginning, in the first few laps, I was quite far behind, especially from Dani and Casey (Stoner)," Rossi said. "After that I came back and had a great fight with Casey.

"When I was able to arrive in second place, Dani was already a little bit more than one second ahead.

"I know that in that situation Dani is always very difficult to catch. So I tried to push hard and stay concentrated. There was one part of the race where I didn't gain a lot, but lap by lap I was able to improve my pace and stay very consistent."