bwin.com Grande Premio De Portugal
A great win for Jorge Lorenzo at the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal saw him reduce the gap to Valentino Rossi in the standings to 18 points. He repeated his 2008 Estoril victory from pole on race day 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. 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.
In the 250cc segment, Marco Simoncelli bounced back from his Misano heartbreak with his fourth win in six races,
whilst Álvaro Bautista crashed out. Another solid fourth placed finish for Hiroshi Aoyama (Scot Racing) saw him extend his title advantage to 26 points at the bwin.com Grande Prémio de Portugal after Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) crashed out early on, whilst World Champion Marco Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) brought himself back into the championship fight with another win. Behind Simoncelli, Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar) and Héctor Barberá (Pepe World Team) crossed the line neck and neck, and although they were given exactly the same race time second place was awarded to Di Meglio (who had performed the fastest lap of the two riders), whilst Aoyama rode steadily to fourth place.
Drama in 125cc racesaw Julián Simón’s title celebrations put on hold after he crashed and finished 12th, as Pol Espargaró took a superb win. Espargaró (Derbi Racing) scored an excellent victory to make up for his last lap Misano heartbreak, as he judged the final stages to perfection to outdo Sandro Cortese (Ajo Interwetten) and Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar).
With three races to go and an 18 point deficit to Rossi, the MotoGP World championship is far more achievable for Lorenzo than before the visit to Portugal. But champions like Rossi take some beating, and Lorenzo’s work is far from over. However, he sure looks like Rossis’s heir apparent!
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