Lorenzo beats Stoner in Estoril

Jorge Lorenzo repeated his 2008 Estoril victory from pole on Sunday to significantly boost his title chances as Valentino Rossi could only manage fourth place at the challenging Portuguese circuit.

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-color 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 ElÃas (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.

Results

Pos	Rider	Time	Nat	Bike	Team
1	Jorge Lorenzo	43m 35.522	SPA	YAMAHA	Fiat Yamaha Team
2	Casey Stoner	+6.294	AUS	DUCATI	Ducati Marlboro Team
3	Dani Pedrosa	+9.889	SPA	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
4	Valentino Rossi	+23.428	ITA	YAMAHA	Fiat Yamaha Team
5	Colin Edwards	+32.652	USA	YAMAHA	Tech 3 Yamaha
6	Toni Elias	+35.709	SPA	HONDA	San Carlo Honda Gresini
7	Andrea Dovizioso	+35.723	ITA	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
8	Nicky Hayden	+38.830	USA	DUCATI	Ducati Marlboro Team
9	James Toseland	+44.093	GBR	YAMAHA	Tech 3 Yamaha
10	Chris Vermeulen	+52.863	AUS	SUZUKI	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
11	Randy De Puniet	+55.698	FRA	HONDA	LCR Honda MotoGP
12	Marco Melandri	+1m 04.515	ITA	KAWASAKI	Hayate Racing Team
13	Niccolo Canepa	+1m 04.538	ITA	DUCATI	Pramac Racing
14	Gabor Talmacsi	+1m 27.299	HUN	HONDA	Scot Racing Team MotoGP

Championship standings

1	Valentino Rossi	250 pts	ITA	YAMAHA	Fiat Yamaha Team
2	Jorge Lorenzo	232 pts	SPA	YAMAHA	Fiat Yamaha Team
3	Dani Pedrosa	173 pts	SPA	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
4	Casey Stoner	170 pts	AUS	DUCATI	Ducati Marlboro Team
5	Andrea Dovizioso	142 pts	ITA	HONDA	Repsol Honda Team
6	Colin Edwards	134 pts	USA	YAMAHA	Tech 3 Yamaha
7	Loris Capirossi	97 pts	ITA	SUZUKI	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
8	Randy De Puniet	93 pts	FRA	HONDA	LCR Honda MotoGP
9	Marco Melandri	91 pts	ITA	KAWASAKI	Hayate Racing Team
10	Toni Elias	90 pts	SPA	HONDA	San Carlo Honda Gresini
11	Chris Vermeulen	90 pts	AUS	SUZUKI	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
12	Alex De Angelis	88 pts	SMR	HONDA	San Carlo Honda Gresini
13	James Toseland	85 pts	GBR	YAMAHA	Tech 3 Yamaha
14	Nicky Hayden	81 pts	USA	DUCATI	Ducati Marlboro Team
15	Mika Kallio	51 pts	FIN	DUCATI	Pramac Racing
16	Niccolo Canepa	38 pts	ITA	DUCATI	Pramac Racing
17	Gabor Talmacsi	14 pts	HUN	HONDA	Scot Racing Team MotoGP
18	Sete Gibernau	12 pts	SPA	DUCATI	Grupo Francisco Hernando
19	Yuki Takahashi	9 pts	JAP	HONDA	Scot Racing Team MotoGP
20	Aleix Espargaro	8 pts	SPA	DUCATI	Pramac Racing