Lorenzo Takes First Win in MotoGP
In the realisation of a lifelong dream, Jorge Lorenzo took his maiden MotoGP victory in a thrilling bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal.
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 In the realisation of a lifelong dream, Jorge Lorenzo took his maiden MotoGP victory in a thrilling bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal. The Spaniard had an incredible race onboard his Fiat Yamaha M1, and now leads the World Championship after his phenomenal start to 2008. Lorenzo achieved the `holy trinity´of pole position, fastest lap and race win at the circuit where he had never previously triumphed in the lower cylinder categories, joining 2005 race winner Alex Barros as the only rider to perform the feat in Estoril. The rider level on points with Lorenzo in the standings – conceding leadership of the classification by virtue of the most recent result - Dani Pedrosa was again the main thorn in his arch rival´s side. The Repsol Honda rider took the holeshot at a packed first corner, but was swamped by fellow front row starters Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. The trio had a fearsome battle in the opening stages, until Lorenzo passed both he and Rossi definitively and in rapid succession on lap thirteen. Two laps later, Pedrosa made his push for second place, overtaking Rossi for the final time. He will now have his sights set on China, the scene of his own rookie victory back in 2006. Five-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi took the second Fiat Yamaha machine to a podium finish, tyre manufacturer Bridgestone´s first ever rostrum at Estoril. His second consecutive podium also helps Fiat Yamaha to the lead in the team standings. Behind the rostrum battle, fourth spot saw two crashes in quick succession from JiR Team Scot´s Andrea Dovizioso and Repsol Honda´s Nicky Hayden, leaving Colin Edwards to take the position onboard his pneumatic valve engine powered Tech 3 Yamaha. John Hopkins had his best finish so far as a Kawasaki rider in fifth, ahead of reigning World Champion Casey Stoner. The Ducati Marlboro man experienced a string of problems in the race, which began with him swapping grid positions with Loris Capirossi after a sighting lap mix-up. He now lies fourth in the standings, ahead of today´s seventh place finisher James Toseland. Rizla Suzuki´s Chris Vermeulen and Capirossi, alongside San Carlo Honda Gresini newcomer Shinya Nakano, completed the top ten. Jorge Lorenzo – Race Winner "First of all I have to thank Yamaha and all my sponsors for the trust that they placed in me. It is unbelievable to be here in MotoGP, to win in Estoril. "The start of the race was crazy! I took a big risk passing Valentino, but luckily I got past him OK and was able to break away. Tomorrow I will undergo an operation on my arm pump, but for now I will celebrate as if it was the last day on earth!" 250cc Alvaro Bautista opened his win account for 2008 with a runaway victory in the 250cc Portuguese showdown. The Mapfre Aspar rider was unstoppable from the opening lap, extending a huge gap over his rivals and repeating his triumph from 2007. The Spaniard now has three wins in as many years in Portugal, having also crossed the line first in the 2006 125cc race. He now climbs his way back up the quarter litre standings, following disappointment in Qatar and Jerez. The rider who collided with Bautista on the final lap in previous round -Metis Gilera´s Marco Simoncelli- was once again the closest man to the Spaniard, albeit this time some seven seconds behind. Taking both his and Gilera´s first podium in the 250cc class, Simoncelli was once again involved in a controversial incident in the final stages of the race. He was chased down by Red Bull KTM rider and new World Championship leader Mika Kallio, who came close to impacting with the Italian in the dash for the line. Once calmed down after flashing a few heated gestures in Simoncelli´s direction, Kallio will have the comfort of a twelve point lead in the class spurring him on. He continued his impressive run of podium finishes which, combined with a retirement from previous leader Mattia Pasini, puts him in an enviable position in the classification. After a late push through the field, Thomas Luthi took fourth place for the Emmi-Caffe Latte Aprilia team, ahead of Red Bull KTM´s Hiroshi Aoyama and JiR Team Scot´s Yuki Takahashi. Julian Simon, Hector Barbera and Hector Faubel added to the Spanish top ten contingent, joined by Czech rider Lukas Pesek. Polaris World rider Pasini crashed not once but twice in the quarter litre race; the Italian fell for the first time when battling with Hiroshi Aoyama for third and, after picking himself and his Aprilia back up, took another tumble when he discovered that his brakes had been damaged in the previous incident. 125cc Simone Corsi took his second consecutive victory in the 125cc race in Estoril, retaining the lead in the overall classification after a steady ride from pole. The Jack&Jones WRB rider was involved in a race-long battle with Belson Derbi´s Joan Olive, as those involved in the tussle for the win gradually dropped out of the running. In the end it came down to Corsi vs. Olive, although the last lap was more a question of Corsi holding his nerve than duking it out with his Spanish rival. He was up to the task, and passed the chequered flag three tenths of a second ahead of Olive. Continuing the team´s fine form from Jerez, both Jack&Jones WRB riders placed on the podium. Nico Terol earned a second successive rostrum finish in third place, taking the fledgling team further up the group standings. Heading the group competing for fourth place, Stevie Bonsey achieved his best ever Grand Prix result in the third race of his sophomore season. The American started from second on the grid, and his weekend is a positive boost for both him and his DeGraaf Grand Prix Aprilia team, who also occupied the next place down through Danny Webb. Reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi experienced a continuation of his difficulties from the opening two races, a podium spot still eluding him in his title defending year. He rounded off the top six, ahead of Mike di Meglio, Stefan Bradl, Sergio Gadea and Sandro Cortese. Battling for victory, Polaris World´s Bradley Smith crashed out in the latter stages of the race, whilst other spectacular tumbles befell Raffaele de Rosa and Karel Pesek. MotoGP Estoril - Race Result 1 - Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 45.53.089 2 - Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 45.54.906 3 - Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 46.05.812 4 - Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech3 - 46.10.312 5 - John Hopkins - Team Kawasaki - 46.16.841 6 - Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - 46.19.777 7 - James Toseland - Yamaha Tech3 - 46.25.720 8 - Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 46.29.471 9 - Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 46.31.357 10 - Shinya Nakano - Honda San Carlo - 46.32.565 11 - Alex De Angelis - Honda San Carlo - 46.54.395 12 - Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 46.56.956 13 - Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro Team - 47.02.614 14 - Sylvain Guintoli  - Alice Ducati - 47.02.723 15 - Randy De Puniet - Honda LCR - 47.04.631 16 - Anthony West - Team Kawasaki - 47.16.718 Not Classified - Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - - Andrea Dovizioso - JIR Honda Scot - Championship Points 1 - Dani Pedrosa - 61 2 - Jorge Lorenzo - 61 3 - Valentino Rossi - 47 4 - Casey Stoner - 40 5 - James Toseland - 29 6 - Loris Capirossi - 26 7 - John Hopkins - 24 8 - Colin Edwards - 22 9 - Andrea Dovizioso - 21 10 - Nicky Hayden - 19 11 - Shinya Nakano - 16 12 - Chris Vermeulen - 14 13 - Marco Melandri - 12 14 - Randy De Puniet - 8 15 - Alex De Angelis - 7 16 - Toni Elias - 7 17 - Anthony West - 3 18 - Sylvain Guintoli  - 3
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