MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi has scored his first victory of the new motorcycle season racing from 4th on the grid to win the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez.
The Yamaha rider slipped past early leader Spanirad Dani Pedrosa on a Honda with 10 laps left in front of the 120,000 crowd before going on to win an open up an 11-point lead at the top of the overall standings.
Australian Casey Stoner was third for Ducati, the 2007 champion's first appearance on the podium at Jerez.
Victory for Rossi, his first since Malaysia last October and his 72nd in the top category, handed the Italian the lead in the championship standings with 65 points after three rounds.
Stoner, winner of last month's rain-delayed season-opener in Qatar, is second on 54 and Pedrosa tied for third with compatriot and Rossi's team mate Jorge Lorenzo on 41.
