However, the seven-times world champion still trails the championship leaders by 34 points - but can quickly close that gap if he performs well in the next five grands prix, which are all in the space of just six weeks.
Rossi’s team-mate
Colin Edwards had a disappointing time in Italy after running off the track, while Melandri’s team-mate
Toni Elias returns to his home track lying seventh in the championship after some impressive performances in the opening six rounds.
20-year-old Australian
Casey Stoner finished second behind Pedrosa in the 250cc race last year but has not paid second fiddle to the Spaniard in his
MotoGP debut year. Despite a high speed crash in Italy, the LCR Honda rider lays joint fifth in the championship with Rossi and has already finished second in Turkey and started from pole in Qatar.
Local hero Sete Gibernau makes his first Barcelona appearance riding for Ducati after an impressive show in Italy. He started the race from pole and led until slowing to fifth after late race problems with a toe slider. Sete is yet to take a podium this season, but undoubtedly has the speed to do so.
Makoto Tamada is slowly but surely riding back to the form that saw him win two grands prix in 2004 while French rookie
Randy de Puniet makes his first MotoGP race appearance in Barcelona for Kawasaki. Randy won the 250cc race in 2003 and 2004 and could do with a change of fortune together with his team-mate
Shinya Nakano who has put in some blistering qualifying performances but is only 11th in the championship after struggling with a lack of engine performance.
