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► 2009 Motorcycle Racing News

Dani Pedrosa.  Photos and text courtesy BMW Motorrad, Ducati Corse, Honda Racing, Suzuki Racing, Yamaha Racing.  Edited by webBikeWorld.

Lorenzo Untouchable; Stoner Strong and Rossi Fourth

Jorge Lorenzo was untouchable once again in Portugal this afternoon and took a stunning fourth win of the season, 16 months on from his maiden MotoGP victory at this same track.

His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi had a disappointing day and came home a distant fourth, although the Fiat Yamaha Team secured the Teams' Championship title, the first leg of the 'triple crown'.

22-year-old Lorenzo had looked invincible all weekend and today was no different as he blasted off from pole for the 35th time in his career, reaching turn one in second place but regaining the lead a couple of corners later.

Wearing special 'astronaut' leathers and helmet to commemorate the Moon Landing and match the one-off white 'Fiat Punto Evo' livery on his YZR-M1, the Mallorcan was unchallenged from then on and stretched his lead until the end, finishing a commanding 6.294 seconds clear of Casey Stoner to take his 26th career win.

Rossi had struggled to match his team-mate's pace all weekend and a problem with rear grip plagued him today and compounded his difficulties.  He dropped to fourth on the first lap after starting from second and was unable to make any headway into the gap to Stoner and Pedrosa, eventually coming home some 13 seconds behind the Spaniard. 

It was the Italian's 100th start for Yamaha, from which he has won an incredible 43 times.

Yamaha are now assured of one of their riders being crowned World Champion but with Rossi's lead now cut to 18 points from Lorenzo in second, the tension is mounting as to which one it will be.  MotoGP now has a week off before the 'flyaway' double-header in Australia and Malaysia.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1st - Time: 45'35.522
"What a day!  I'm so happy to win here again in the same track where I won my first MotoGP 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!"

Valentino Rossi - Position: 4th - Time: +23.428
"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.

On Friday I was three tenths off the pace and unfortunately this stayed the same all weekend and in the race today.  Here in Estoril we struggled last year as well, so it might be that, with our setting, the rear tire gets very hot and this causes a lack of grip.

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".

Ducati Celebrates Stoner's Return
The Ducati Marlboro Team celebrated the return of Casey Stoner with podium champagne in Portugal today as the Australian guided his GP9 back to the podium with a stunning second place.

Stoner was back to riding in his style, fast, over all 28 laps of the Estoril race, with only eventual race winner Jorge Lorenzo able to better him.

At the checkered flag Stoner showed no signs of the symptoms that had dogged him for several rounds before his enforced break from action, although he was understandably tired after a full MotoGP race, following two months of inactivity.

Nicky Hayden made a good start to the race but he was unable to capitalize on an encouraging performance in this morning’s warm-up as he eventually crossed the line in eighth place after struggling somewhat for grip.

Casey Stoner, 2nd Place
“It is great to be competitive again and to stay that way right to the end of the race.  I maybe could have been faster over the opening few laps but I made a little mistake, which caused my foot to slip off the peg.  It broke the footrest support and it was moving around in all the right-handers, so my foot was slipping off.

As the laps went by I was able to alter the footpeg position a little but I wasn’t able to go any faster.  Obviously Jorge was too fast for us today and he did a fantastic job but I’m still really happy today for myself and for the team.  It is brilliant to come back like this and I think it shows that the decision to take a break and tackle a physical problem that was really making it impossible for us, was the right choice.

Like I said I’m happy for the team because it has also been a difficult period for them.  My relationship with Ducati, built over the past three years, has always been strong and solid.  Now I’ll try and start training a little before the next race because over the last few months my physical condition has suffered and I need to try and get some muscle back.

The target for the next few races is for myself and the team to prepare as well as we can for next season.”

Stoner is Back With Strong Qualifying

Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position since Laguna Seca back in June at Estoril this afternoon, the Mallorcan sealing his fifth pole of the season with a strong performance ahead of tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix.

His Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi meanwhile took his eleventh front row of the season and will start tomorrow's race from second, with Casey Stoner taking the final front-row slot.

Having topped both practice sessions this weekend, Lorenzo was the clear favorite for pole this afternoon and the 22-year-old looked smooth and comfortable out on track as he made a few last-minute setting changes before the fight for grid spots. 

With twenty minutes remaining he took the lead and didn't surrender it for the rest of the session, improving his time several times and never looking in much danger from his rivals.

Rossi had a few problems yesterday but was in better shape today, having improved the balance of his M1 in the hard braking zones.  His penultimate lap was good enough to put him second although he was unable to quite match his team-mate's pace on the softer Bridgestone tire today.

The championship leader is planning a few overnight improvements in order to ensure he is at the maximum for the race.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 1stTime: 1'36.214Laps: 29
"It's been quite a few races since I've had a pole! I was getting a bit worried because doing one fast lap has always been one of my strong points but lately we haven't been able to be quite competitive enough with the soft tire.

This weekend however everything is working really well and the setting with both tires is great, so I was able to go out and do some very fast laps.  Tomorrow is another day and we know that everyone will be strong, so we will just try and push to the limit and see what happens."

Valentino Rossi - Position: 2ndTime: 1'36.474Laps: 28
"We improved the setting a lot this afternoon from yesterday and managed to fix a lot of the problems we had in the braking, so today was not so bad.  We still need more traction on the exits from the slow corners however and we are also losing some time in the tight hairpin.

We are not so far but we need to study the data and find a way to improve things a bit more for the race. It will be quite a strong fight tomorrow I think and 28 laps in this heat is going to be hard, but we will be ready."

"It's very good to be back on pole position after what has been quite a long time. Jorge was today able to do some very fast laps with the softer tire, which has allowed us to get back on pole, but he also has a good and consistent race pace and so we feel confident for the race.

We still have a little work to do on some rear grip issues in order to be a bit faster in the last section of the track, so we will use tomorrow's warm-up to do that and then we will be ready for an exciting race."

Estoril, Portugal Race Circuit
Length: 4182 m
Opened 1972
Lap Record: 1' 39.189 (Valentino Rossi, 2003)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1' 35.715 (Jorge Lorenzo, 2008)

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