After a hard and intense preseason including two trips to Malaysia and one to Australia, the Repsol riders of the MotoGP class had a positive performance during the last tests carried out only two weeks ago in Jerez. Dani Pedrosa, surprise rider of the premier class during the winter, will be back in a venue in which he took the victory last year in the 250cc class. Nicky Hayden, who did not score after crashing seven laps before the end of the race, had a great race last year in Jerez before the accident, fighting closely for the victory against Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau.

"I can't wait for the season opener - I am really excited about the first race," said Nicky Hayden. "As if just the racing isn't enough, the Jerez crowd really gets into the whole thing and that place really goes off. I love racing in Spain, and Jerez is a good track. Everybody involved in the Repsol Honda Team has worked really hard and we've got a committed group of guys here. I hope to reward them for all their efforts over the winter. We are going to bring all we got!"

"I think that we've made a very good preseason, because I've been progressing and there's always been an evolution," added Dani Pedrosa. "The most positive aspect is that we've been able to complete basically our winter test programme and that allows us to reach the first race knowing the new bike a bit better. I've progressed physically as well, I felt much better at the end of the preseason tests compared to the first time I got on the bike. The exercise you do on the bike, lapping on the circuit, helped me to improve my shape, no doubt about that. There are a few things left to be tested for Jerez; I've hardly been able to practice starts and I've only tested two sets of qualifying tyres so far, but I guess that's normal when you are a MotoGP rookie. I'm not worried and looking forward to the races."

In the 250cc, Sebastián Porto will be back in the circuit where he finished second last year, a bit more than two seconds behind the winner, Dani Pedrosa. Porto, who has spent these last days resting in Argentina before flying to Spain to take part in the first race of the 2006 World Championship, was the focus of attention of the sports media in his country last week at the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, where Repsol YPF presented the sports sponsorship of the Argentinean rider for the 2006 season.