Preparations for the Gran Premio bwin.com de España began today, as the paddock at the Circuito de Jerez filled up with MotoGP teams and riders. With the weather in Spain being somewhat unpredictable over the past few days, there was a fresh wind and sunny skies greeting the early arrivals at Jerez, with the forecast for sunshine all weekend. Things got underway with the traditional pre-event visit to the Gonzalez Byass sherry distillery, attended by MotoGP stars Shinya Nakano and Sylvain Guintoli alongside 125cc World Championship leader Hector Faubel. The trio had a taste of some of southern Spain’s most famous products, and had the honour of meeting MotoGP Legends and fellow attendees Giacomo Agostini and Angel Nieto, the two most decorated champions in MotoGP history. Racewinner in Qatar, Casey Stoner was joined by five-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, local riders Toni Elias and Dani Pedrosa and father-to-be Loris Capirossi at the press conference to talk about Sunday’s race. The latter will be competing in his 250th Grand Prix, and was surprised earlier on in the day as he was presented with a cake in the Ducati garage to commemorate the occasion. Expecting his first child this weekend, the 2006 victor will be hoping for two reasons to celebrate over the coming days. Keeping up the busy schedule of recent weeks, a number of teams put on presentations at the Circuito de Jerez this afternoon. Dani Pedrosa announced the renovation of his promotional deal with Spanish bank La Caixa, whilst Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were involved in a photo session with their new Fiat livery on-track. Official MotoGP charity Riders for Health had also organised a special ‘MotoGP Experience’ for fans, giving a group of fans the chance to undertake laps of the Spanish circuit. Of the riders still carrying injuries suffered or worsened two weeks ago at Qatar, both John Hopkins and Hiroshi Aoyama are scheduled to ride tomorrow, with the Red Bull KTM rider having visited the Jerez medical centre earlier today to have his recently-operated-on finger examined. Hopkins will once again be riding through the pain suffering from a hand injury picked up as a result of a crash in preseason. The first practice session for the Gran Premio bwin.com de España kicks off tomorrow at 9am local time, with the start of the 125cc free practice session. MotoGP and 250cc riders will then take to the track, with a very special event rounding off the day. The first ever practice sessions for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup take place from 4pm,building up to the gateway competition’s first ever race on Sunday.