Jorge Lorenzo repeated his 2008 Estoril victory from pole on Sunday to significantly boost his title chances as Valentino
The Fiat Yamaha pair got away in first and second places on the grid but Rossi was unable to match the pace of Lorenzo as he pulled away quickly at the front. On his return to action Ducati’s Casey Stoner rode brilliantly to follow Lorenzo across the line in second place, whilst Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was third.
Lorenzo will now feel that with three races to go and an 18 point deficit to Rossi the championship is far more achievable than before the visit to Portugal. The Spaniard was in unstoppable form in the Atlantic Coast sunshine and his fourth win of the year was eventually secured by a 6.3s margin.
Stoner performed admirably on his return to action after two months away due to illness, achieving his first podium since Assen in June – and he now has his home race at Phillip Island to look forward to in a fortnight’s time.
Pedrosa rode smoothly from fourth on the grid, taking the holeshot with one of his traditionally rapid starts onboard the factory RC212V and briefly holding the lead before Lorenzo slipped through. Pedrosa’s third place was his eighth podium of 2009.
World Champion Rossi appeared to be off-colour throughout the race, finishing off the podium for the first time at Estoril in the premier class. The championship leader will undertake a comprehensive inquest into his lack of competitiveness with his Fiat Yamaha crew after finishing 23 seconds behind Lorenzo.
Behind the MotoGP big guns at the front, Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was 10 seconds back on Rossi in fifth place, whilst Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) held off Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) for sixth on the line.
The top ten also featured Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), with Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) crashing out early on and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) retiring due to technical problems.
World Championship MotoGP
Pos. Rider Nation Team Points 1 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 250 2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 232 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 173 4 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 170 5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 142 6 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 134 7 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 97 8 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 93 9 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team 91 10 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 90 11 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 90 12 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 88 13 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 85 14 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team 81 15 Mika KALLIO FIN Ducati Marlboro Team 51 16 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing 38 17 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 14 18 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 12 19 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 9 20 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing 8
bwin.com GRANDE PREMIO DE PORTUGALPos. Rider Nation Team Total time 1 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 45'35.522 2 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 6.294 3 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 9.889 4 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team + 23.428 5 C. EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 32.652 6 T. ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini + 35.709 7 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team + 35.723 8 N. HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team + 38.830 9 J. TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 + 44.093 10 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 52.863 11 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 55.698 12 M. MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team + 1'04.515 13 N. CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing + 1'04.538 14 G. TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP + 1'27.299
Not classified L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 8 Lap A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 20 Lap M. KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing 23 Lap
