Profile: Valentino Rossi

The world champion, who joined the struggling team from Honda over the winter, held on after a tough race-long battle with Max Biaggi's Honda.

Spaniard Sete Gibernau was third and the only other man able to stay in touch with the leader in the first race of the new season.

World Superbike champion Neil Hodgson retired his Ducati on his MotoGP debut.

Rossi and Biaggi swapped the lead several times through the race, but Rossi made the decisive move with three laps to go.

Rossi celebrates maiden win

The riders almost touched wheels as the Yamaha blasted past into the lead.

The magnitude of Rossi's performance was demonstrated by the other Yamaha riders in the race, with Norick Abe the next up in ninth place.

It was the company's first race win since Biaggi triumphed in the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix.

Londoner Shane Byrne, of the Aprilia team, scored a point on his Grand Prix debut with 15th place, one spot ahead of his team-mate, Northern Ireland's Jeremy McWilliams.

MotoGP

1. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 43 minutes 50.218 seconds
2. Max Biaggi (Ita) Honda 43:50.428
3. Sete Gibernau (Spa) Honda 43:57.473
4. Alex Barros (Bra) Honda 44:08.885
5. Nicky Hayden (US) Honda 44:14.312
6. Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 44:14.593
7. Colin Edwards (US) Honda 44:19.073
8. Makoto Tamada (Jap) Honda 44:26.753
9. Norick Abe (Jap) Yamaha 44:26.861
10. Carlos Checa (Spa) Yamaha 44:29.502

250cc

1. Daniel Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 42min 04.690sec
2. Randy de Puniet (Fra) Aprilia at 0.536sec
3. Sebastian Porto (Arg) Aprilia 5.859
4. Manuel Poggiali (Smr) Aprilia 24.561
5. Alex de Angelis (Smr) Aprilia 30.018
6. Alex Debon (Spa) Honda 30.653
7. Fonsi Nieto (Spa) Aprilia 31.458
8. Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 31.872
9. Roberto Rolfo (Ita) Honda 31.940
10. Franco Battaini (Ita) Aprilia 35.643.

125 cc