Jorge Lorenzo takes the win at Estoril, a circuit that also hosted his first MotoGP victory last year. His teammate Valentino Rossi is now a mere 18 points ahead in the championship with three rounds to go

Ron Lieback
AllAboutBikes.com Content Editor

With three races remaining, Jorge Lorenzo is only 18 points behind championship-leader Valentino Rossi after a dominating performance at Sunday’s MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix. Starting from the pole, the Spaniard took first at Estoril, the same track that hosted Lorenzo’s maiden victory last year.

His teammate Rossi didn’t take the podium, but the Italian’s fourth-place finish and Lorenzo’s win secured the championship title for Fiat Yamaha. But Lorenzo had one up on “The Doctor” with flawless racing from beginning to end. The 22-year-old, starting from the 35th pole of his career, didn’t get the holeshot, but was able to get out front soon with nothing but clear Portugal track ahead.

“I’m so happy to win here again in the same track where I won my first Moto GP race last year. I worked so hard in the break on my fitness with my father and maybe that's given me a little bit of extra speed, I certainly felt so strong this weekend and it is great to win like this after being top in every session as well. I got a good start and it took me just a couple of corners to get past Dani and take the lead, but I honestly didn’t expect to be unchallenged from then on or to finish with such a big gap. 

“This is a good track for me but I am fast more or less everywhere now. The championship is closer now; it’s still not easy but we have nothing to lose! I’m proud that we have won the Team Title and I want to say thanks and congratulations to everyone. I liked my leathers and helmet a lot this weekend and I wanted to celebrate Neil Armstrong and his landing on the moon so this is why I made this ‘moonwalk show’ after the race!”

Armstrong? Fans who expected the normal blue and white of the Fiat Team got quite a surprise. In commemoration of the moon landing, Lorenzo and Rossi donned special “astronaut” leathers and a helmet, and had their YZR-M1s painted an off-white color to match “Fiat Punto Evo” livery.

Taking his fourth win of the year (26th of career) at the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal (round 14 of 17), Lorenzo finished 6.294 seconds ahead of the returning Casey Stoner, and 9.88 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda.

Ducati Marlboro’s Stoner rode a strong race despite missing the last three races due to an illness that caused severe fatigue. His last podium was in Assen in June, and the Australian still has a home race when Moto GP meets at Phillip Island. 

Stoner’s second place finish placed him fourth in the championship with 170 points, just three points behind Pedrosa. Pedrosa, who’s third in the championship, grabbed the holeshot on his RC212V, but was quickly taken by Lorenzo a few turns later. Pedrosa’s third place was his eighth podium of 2009.

But the biggest upset was Rossi, who finished a shocking 23.42 seconds behind Lorenzo. Rossi started in second on the grid, but couldn’t keep up with his teammate due to reported difficulties with rear grip.

During the end of the first lap, the driver of the famed No. 46 dropped to fourth, remaining in the position for the entire race. Regardless of his finish, it was a historical day for Rossi and Yamaha, considering it was his 100th start for Yamaha, from which he has won 43 times.

“It was a very difficult race for me. I was never able to be fast because I did not have enough grip in the rear and our tire did not work well, but I think it was more a problem of setting. After a few laps I was in great difficulties and I immediately understood that this was not going to be ‘our’ race. 

“Throughout the practice sessions I had some problems but I thought that today I would be able to at least stay with Stoner and Pedrosa, but they made another step forward for the race and then there was no chance for me. It is a pity that I am off the podium, but we have three more races and they are three great tracks. We must think race by race and we must work to understand what the problem was today in order to make sure that we fix it in time for Phillip Island.”

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, American Colin Edwards, finished in fifth, 10 seconds behind Rossi. Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Grisini machine held off Andrea Dovizioso on the Repsol Honda for sixth.

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.

MotoGP now has a week off before the “flyaway” double-header in Australia and Malaysia.

For results and standings, click here.