Rossi-Gibernau duel boosts TV audiences for MotoGP opener The heart-stopping 45-minute battle between World Champion Valentino Rossi and his long-standing rival Sete Gibernau in MotoGP’s 2005 season opener, the Gran Premio Marlboro de España in Jerez, saw huge support from TV viewers worldwide. Unsurprisingly, the largest audiences were recorded in their respective countries, Italy and Spain, where viewers of both Mediaset (Italia 1) and Televisión Española enjoyed the thrilling showdown live in their homes, with the race remarkably taken to the final corner by both riders. An average of over 7 million spectators enjoyed Rossi’s win through Italia 1, representing a market share of 34.4%. At the broadcasting peak, during the last lap of the race in Jerez, almost 8 million fans were tuned in. In total, the transmission reached 11.5 million spectators. A similar phenomenon occurred in Spain. Although the huge 127,000 crowd present at the circuit and the TV viewers at home were unable to celebrate their home-hero’s victory, TVE’s main channel scored its largest race audience since Alex Crivillé’s World Championship win in 1999. The average viewing figures for the race were 3.7 million, with an average share of 38%. The “golden minute” of the broadcast, immediately before the dramatic outcome of the race, recorded 5.5 million viewers (46% market share). Another good example of the success of MotoGP’s first race of the season was the audience in the United Kingdom through the BBC. The average viewing figure for the show was 1.2 million (14% market share), one of the largest for MotoGP broadcasts, and well above the regular network audience for Sunday lunch-time. This data reflects the massive interest in the 2005 MotoGP World Championship, with fans across the globe eagerly waiting for the next round in the Rossi-Gibernau showdown, which takes place in Estoril on Sunday April 17th at the betandwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal.