The Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril was first run in 2000 and, apart from in 2005, has usually been towards the end of the European season. Three years ago it was the second race of the year, and uncertain weather conditions affected that event. There was some of that this time, although mostly on the practice days, but the circuit itself is enough of a challenge anyway. It has one of those particularly lengthy start-finish straights, and a wide range of slow to fast corners.

Qualifying was dominated by 20-year-old class rookie Jorge Lorenzo, with the Fiat Yamaha rider making it three pole positions out of three. His team-mate is multiple champion Valentino Rossi, although the Italian uses Bridgestone tyres instead of Michelin, and Rossi was third, in his best showing so far this year. The customer Yamaha team, Tech 3, were for the first time using 2008-spec pneumatic valve engines. Colin Edwards and James Toseland were very happy with the improved RPM, acceleration and fuel efficiency they were afforded, taking fifth and sixth places respectively.

The challenge to Yamaha came from the works Repsol Honda team, with points leading Pedrosa in second, and Nicky Hayden fourth. Customer Hondas were seventh and eighth, with Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot) leading Randy de Puniet (LCR). This meant that all seven of the riders on Michelin tyres were in the top eight, with only Rossi in amongst them on the Japanese rubber. World Champion Stoner led the rest of the Bridgestone contingent, completing the third row of the grid in ninth. He was not getting on so well with the latest Ducati here, and was one who’d crashed during qualifying, along with de Puniet and Loris Capirossi.

Stoner, though, was doing better than his colleagues. Fellow Marlboro-sponsored works rider Marco Melandri would line up in P17, and the customer Alice Team men were also in the lower placings - Toní Elías in P14, Sylvain Guintoli in P18. Kawasaki rider John Hopkins was tenth, five places ahead of partner Anthony West. Gresini Honda riders were in P11 (Shin’ya Nakano) and P16 (Alex de Angelis), and the Rizla-sponsored Suzukis were twelfth and thirteenth, Capirossi ahead of Chris Vermeulen.

The weather conditions did give rise to some concerns for the race, not least because of some healthy winds. It was mostly bright, but with the threat of a rain shower or two. There was the odd drop of rain at the start, which saw the first four qualifiers jostling at the front into turn one. This is a fairly sharp right-hander, feeding straight into a left-hand kink, and it was Hayden that lost out. Pedrosa led Rossi into Curva 1, with Nicky going wide and therefore passed by both Lorenzo and Dovizioso.

The first corners had more action than that, with the right-hand bend of turn two being the place where both Rossi and Lorenzo took their Yamahas past Pedrosa, as the Honda man was edged wide. Jorge then overtook Valentino, with Dovizioso also moving past Dani. Hayden fell behind both Hopkins and Edwards, with Vermeulen, Stoner, Capirossi, Toseland, Guintoli, Nakano, de Puniet, de Angelis and West following. The small amount of rain, on and off, made grip levels a touch uncertain at this early stage - with teams readying their spare bikes in case of need.

Rossi’s turn in the lead soon came, and he used the slipstream effect to draft past Lorenzo and take the inside for turn one. The same place saw Pedrosa retake Dovizoso, with Hopkins hanging on in fifth and a gap opening up behind him. Once third, Pedrosa got on the attack against his countryman Lorenzo, but his repeated efforts along the main straight were hampered by the Yamaha’s apparent superior pace. Dani’s slipstreaming did not give enough momentum to outbrake Jorge at this stage.

The conditions became more certain as the rain virtually gave up, and the race at the front resolved into a seven rider affair. Rossi had the smallest gap over Lorenzo, with Pedrosa and Dovizioso on his tail, Hopkins in touch, and the Edwards-Hayden duo closing in again. The pace of Hopkins on the Kawasaki began to fade, and he would lose out to these two. Lorenzo had set fastest lap earlier, but Hayden now improved on this, and would soon overtake Edwards as well.

Stoner had been leading the next group, with Toseland attacking Vermeulen behind him. Then Casey began to lose ground, as Chris overtook him on the inside at the right-handed Orelha, turn seven. Toseland also passed the Ducati team leader, with de Puniet next to do so, and Capirossi moving in behind. At this stage, Stoner was seen to have what was possibly an electronic readout screen flapping loose from out of his ‘cockpit’, or an electronic unit of some sort. This distraction was hardly what he needed, but he tucked it in and kept going.

Towards the front, Pedrosa had finally gone second, with enough slipstream to outbrake Lorenzo into turn one. He now set the new fastest lap, but his young rival reversed the position again with a similar move of his own, and a better lap time to follow. Rossi and Lorenzo now led for Yamaha, but it was the MotoGP newcomer that was about to show the way. Saca-Rolhas is a very slow and tight corner, where they brake for an uphill left which snakes round to the right again as it climbs. Jorge had a good run out of the Curva do Tanque right-hand bend, going to the inside of Valentino for a neat and impressive pass through the hairpin turn.

Lorenzo was running medium compound Michelins, with Rossi using a softer Bridgestone on his front wheel. Now the Spaniard went faster still and began to pull away, taking his lead out towards one second. At half-distance, Dovizioso was still close behind Rossi and Pedrosa, with fifth man Hayden on his own after pulling clear of Edwards. Dani was still struggling to get his Honda to pass a Yamaha along the main straight, but he had no problem getting on the inside of Valentino for the Orelha corner. The Repsol machine went a bit wide on the way out but the pass was made.

With Spain’s two championship leading riders in positions one and two, now things began to calm down at the front. Lorenzo’s lead would go up to almost two seconds, but then remained somewhere in the 1.6s to 1.8s bracket as the laps unfolded. Pedrosa was using a harder compound rear tyre than the leader, but could still pull away from Rossi in third. ‘The Doctor’ had less to worry about once Dovizioso crashed out - the 22-year-old would later admit that he’d been pushing the pace to stay in touch. Hayden had been catching the two Italians, but he followed Andrea out of the race in similar fashion.

The gap from second to third grew to five seconds, and now Edwards had inherited fourth after the exit of the two Honda riders. Hopkins was on his own in fifth, but the late laps saw some good racing for sixth. Toseland had led de Puniet, Vermeulen and Stoner, but the Ducati rider was now managing to revive his fortunes. Casey overtook the other three in turn, with his move on James coming at turn one. He moved clear of the battle, which also saw Vermeulen dropping away.

With a few laps to run, an unstable looking de Puniet managed to go through on the inside of Toseland at turn one, pushing the Honda a touch wide but keeping it ahead as James wobbled the Yamaha trying to fight back. Randy’s achievement was short-lived, as he suffered a front end fall going round the left-handed VIP, turn four. He managed to get back into the race but was now almost last.

Lorenzo was in control and took the victory in only his third MotoGP race, with Spanish rival Pedrosa finishing second. The Honda rider would later explain that the gusting winds had led him to select a shorter sixth gear, and this had proved a mistake as it took away his chances at the end of the main straight. Rossi was ‘only’ third on the second Yamaha, presumably finding that his tyres were not the advantage he’d hoped for when switching brands. Edwards took fourth, and Hopkins remained ahead of Stoner to the flag.

Behind Toseland there was a glut of Bridgestone tyre runners. Vermeulen was the lead Suzuki, ahead of Capirossi, then came Nakano and de Angelis on the Gresini Hondas. The rest of the Ducati riders struggled home outside the top eleven, with Elías leading Melandri and Guintoli. Frenchman de Puniet was able to take a single point after his late indiscretion, and West was the last man home due to the premature endings for Hayden and Dovizioso.

Jorge Lorenzo was making his mark as a rookie in the MotoGP 800 championship, with an accomplished win in only his third race, and a share of the points lead - as well as his flag planting celebration. Valentino Rossi had not had a team-mate win a race since the 21st April 2002, when his Repsol Honda partner Tohru Ukawa had done so with a late pass in the South African GP. There was a similar looking machine ahead of the Italian today, with Dani Pedrosa keeping his title hopes alive in second. Nicky Hayden had also shown useful pace, but in the end did not follow up his fourth in Spain.

With fourth in Qatar, and an unrealised chance of fifth in Spain, Andrea Dovizioso showed that he is another rookie to be reckoned with. Today another fourth had been in prospect, but it was not to be. However, things therefore played to the favour of the two Tech 3 Yamaha riders. Fourth was a better result for Colin Edwards, and a consistent seventh was the reward for James Toseland, who admitted to a little extra caution on the first lap or two, on a new track in light rain. Toseland has already signed on for a further year in GPs with the same team.

Fifth man John Hopkins did well with the Kawasaki, but it turned into a damage limitation exercise for Ducati rider Casey Stoner. Michelin’s tyres seem to have been improved for 2008, which can’t be helping the reigning champion. But another ten points today have given the Australian something to build on. Will his form from Qatar be seen in the coming races, or will he have the headache of Yamaha and Honda riders to aim at?

Standings after three races: Pedrosa and Lorenzo 61; Rossi 47; Stoner 40; Toseland 29; Capirossi 26; Hopkins 24; Edwards 22; Dovizioso 21; Hayden 19; Nakano 16; Vermeulen 14.
Yamaha 65; Honda 61; Ducati 40; Suzuki 27; Kawasaki 24.

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