Rossi aims to guard leadership with an injured Marquez

There was a dramatic twist in the MotoGPâ„¢ World Championship battle between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi this week, as news emerged that Marquez needed surgery after fracturing the little finger in his left hand. Marquez sustained the injury while riding dirt track in training on Saturday 25 April, and had to be operated on by Dr. Mir in Barcelona.

Movistar Yamaha's Valentino Rossi currently holds a six-point advantage over the Ducati GP15 of Andrea Dovizioso in the World Championship standings, and a thirty-point lead over the fifth-placed Marquez. Rossi and Marquez's clash at the previous race in Argentina has whetted fans appetites in anticipation of another great battle now the Championship has landed in Europe.

Last year at Jerez, Rossi and Marquez fought it out in the early part of the race, before Marquez went on to take the victory, with Rossi in second and Pedrosa third. This year the 36 year-old Italian will be hoping to go one better, and add to his impressive tally of 6 MotoGPâ„¢ victories at the Spanish circuit. Rossi is the most successful rider in history at Jerez, having taken 8 victories across all classes, and is one of only 3 non-Spanish riders to have stood on the top step in the MotoGPâ„¢ class, along with Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi.

Marquez will surely have other plans though, as he became the first rider to win the race from pole position last season to claim his first victory at the Spanish circuit. Despite trailing Rossi by such a margin in the standings, the reigning MotoGPâ„¢ World Champion Marquez said that he is not panicking yet despite his injury, as he was 30 points behind his teammate Pedrosa after six races in 2013, and still went on to win the title.

Repsol Honda have not made an official decision on who will be Marquez's teammate come the weekend, as they await news on how well Dani Pedrosa's recovery from arm pump surgery has gone. Pedrosa will take part in a supermoto race this week to see if his rehabilitation is on course to allow him to return to action in Jerez. The man who has filled in for Pedrosa for the last two races, HRC test rider Hiroshi Aoyama, is on standby to race once more should the Spaniard not be fully recovered in time.

Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo will be looking to get his season back on track, having failed to finish on a podium in the first three races of a MotoGPâ„¢ season for the first time in his career. The Spaniard will be boosted by support from his home crowd, and the fact he took back-to-back victories at the Jerez circuit in 2010 and 2011. Lorenzo currently sits 4th in the standings, 29 points behind Rossi, and one point ahead of Marquez, but he knows that he will need to start winning races if he is to have any chance of fighting for his third title.

The Ducati Team will be hoping to continue their excellent start to the season, which has seen Andrea Dovizioso claim 3 second-places in a row on the new Desmosedici GP15. Last year the Italian finished 5th in Jerez and the team will be hoping that he can claim their first win in the class since 2010. His teammate Iannone won the Moto2â„¢ race at Jerez in 2011, but has failed to finish a race at the circuit since moving up to the MotoGPâ„¢ class in 2013.

CMW LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow grabbed his first podium of the season in Argentina, and will be full of confidence heading to Spain after receiving some vital upgrades to his Factory spec bike. His previous best finish at Jerez is 4th back in 2012, after he had to retire from the race last season on board the Factory Ducati.

Team Suzuki Ecstar showed excellent signs of progress in Argentina, with Aleix Espargaro qualifying second on the grid and both GSX-RR's finishing the race in the top ten. The Suzuki should suit the flowing and technical Jerez track, and racing in front of their home fans will boost Espargaro and his teammate Maverick Viñales. Espargaro finished last year’s MotoGPâ„¢ race in 7th on the Forward Racing Yamaha, while Viñales ended the Moto2â„¢ race in 5th.

Last year at Jerez Monster Yamaha Tech3's Bradley Smith beat his teammate Pol Espargaro into 8th during the race, and has tasted victory at the Spanish circuit before having won the 125cc race there in 2009. Pol Espargaro knows he has to bounce back from a poor start to 2015, and he will be looking forward to racing in front of his home fans, at a circuit he has won at before in the 125cc (2010) and Moto2â„¢ (2012) classes.

Pramac Racing's Yonny Hernandez will be looking to have a good weekend after being forced to retire in Argentina, and managed to cross the line in 14th at Jerez last season, while his teammate Petrucci fractured his wrist during Warm Up and was forced to miss the race.

Scott Redding on the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing Honda will be hoping to build on his first top ten finish in Argentina, having finished on the podium at Jerez in 2013 on his way to finishing as runner-up in the Moto2â„¢ World Championship that year.

In the Open class, Avintia Racing's Hector Barbera currently leads the standings with 8 points, although Jack Miller on the CWM LCR Honda is only two points behind him after taking the victory in Argentina, with Aspar MotoGP Team's Nicky Hayden on 3 points.

The paddock heads to the 4.4 km track for the Gran Premio bwin de España, the fourth round of the 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship for the 29th consecutive year, after making its debut on the World Championship calendar in 1987.

The MotoGPâ„¢ action kicks off at the Circuito de Jerez on Friday at 09:55 local time with Free Practice 1.

Photos courtesy of motogp.com