Barros encouraged by fifth-place finish

Alex Barros believes his season is back on track after a competitive fifth place in the Spanish Grand Prix - although the West Honda star claims that result could have been even better.

Barros has endured a rough start to the MotoGP season but, having qualified a superb second, he ran with the leaders for much of yesterday’s race at Jerez before tyre problems hindered his progress and denied him a deserved podium position.

And the Honda rider insists a podium was within reach had severe tyre wear not left him facing an uphill battle.

He said: ‘‘After Japan and South Africa, this has been my first really competitive race. I am very happy with the help I have received from the team, which has lifted me back into the leading positions.

‘‘My problem was not that I chose the wrong tyres, or that they did not perform very well.

‘‘My biggest problem was that I destroyed my tyres because I had to push very hard to not lose contact with the leaders early on. In the end, I nearly fell three times but, in general, I am satisfied with the weekend.’’

Repsol Honda ace Valentino Rossi extended his lead in the championship after producing a magnificent performance to win following an early scare at Jerez yesterday.

Having started the race from pole position the Italian was pipped to the first corner by Barros and was nearly forced out of the race soon after when a clash with Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki rider Kenny Roberts pushed him wide and lost him several positions.

But the reigning champion battled back superbly to win from series newcomer Daijiro Kato on his Fortuna Honda and team-mate Tohru Ukawa.

Max Biaggi hit back after he was disqualified for ignoring a five-second stop-go penalty issued for a false start.

The Marlboro Yamaha rider insisted he was not at fault, saying: ‘‘The problem was that the stop-and-go board was surrounded by many other boards so I didn’t even see it.

‘‘When the black flag was displayed the officials were on the track, so it was easy to see and I stopped immediately. I think everyone would agree we had some real bad luck here.’’