With the Japanese Grand Prix postponed until October, the Spanish race has become the second event in the 2010 MotoGP World Championship and the first on European soil. Every season Jerez, a classic on the world championship calendar, puts on a great show thanks to its colourful fans and because it is a circuit at which Spanish motorcycling has written important pages in its history.

In this perfect scenery Bradley Smith rode his Aprilia to fourth at the chequered flag, after a difficult week end. The Briton is still looking for full form in 2010, but he hopes to be ready to fight for victory at Le Mans later this month.

Bradley Smith: “In the end I finished fourth, which isn't a bad result but not totally satisfying. I think that we could have achieved more and that we should be at the same level as the leading group. We are improving a lot with every race, but I am still finding it too hard to keep up a fast pace. We have some way to go. In any case, I'm motivated after taking thirteen points and making steady improvement from session to session. We have to continue in this way, Le Mans is a track that I like a lot and I hope to keep improving the setting of my Aprilia. The team did a fabulous job this weekend to give me confidence, and with this foundation I am sure that we will be where we belong in France."

Moto2 offered a two-for-one deal at Jerez on Sunday afternoon, with the second race of the new class split into two parts after an early incident.

AXO rider Julian Simon was one of those caught up in the big crash at the start of the race, but luckily no damage was inflicted to his RSV and he was able to take the restart. An early push out of the blocks put him amongst the leaders, but grip problems continued to plague him and he gradually lost ground and positions. With tremendous force of will, Simón held on at the back of the lead group and was able to finish the race in eighth, taking his first Moto2 points of the season.

Alex Debon, who clinched the second step of the podium at the opening round in Qatar, had a difficult race day: he started form 13^th and he was coming back to the front spots when he crashed and had to rejoin the race from the back, finishing in 25^th.

Another good result for AXO came from Motocross: Steve Ramon and Davide Guarneri clinched first and second respectively of the first round of the Belgian Championship, with De Dycker fourth with the same points as third places Leok: it could have been an all AXO podium!

The AXO staff pays tribute to Andrew McFarlane: the Motocross star died from serious head injuries in a motorcycle crash during a practice lap in an Australian national championship in Victoria State. May his soul rest in peace.

Photo by: Photozac/Kris Janssens