2008 Jerez grandprix
The Spanish bikers dominated proceedings at the Jerez circuit
The Jerez Grandprix took place this year during the weekend of the 28th - 30th of March. Over 130,000 racing fanatics flocked to the city of Jerez to see the Sunday's racing thrills and spills. Spanish favourite Dani Pedrosa clocked up a runaway victory in the main MotoGP classification, with 7 time world champion Valentino Rossi coming second and red hot Spanish debutant Jorge Lorenzo coming third. Having 2 Spaniards on the podium certainly kept the avid Spanish spectators very satisfied!!
In the 250cc class, a dramatic crash on the final lap between Spaniard Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli handed an easy surprise victory to the Finn Mika Kallio.
And in 125cc Simone Corsi clocked up his second victory of the season, beating Nico Terol to the finishing line.
This year there was an enormous police presence in and around the circuit, with as many as 700 police and Guardia Civil patrolling the surrounding area. The city centres of Jerez and El Puerto de Santa Maria were actually cordonned off to all vehicles with 2 wheels and there were multiple speeding and dangerous driving fines handed out during the weekend. Due to the stricter measures employed this year there was only one fatality on the roads.
All in all the weekend was a great success, with many biking fans taking the opportunity to visit and appreciate many of the towns and beaches of the Costa de la Luz in between qualifying and races.