Jorge Lorenzo scores his first Grand Prix victory in the premier class with a win at Estoril.
Jorge Lorenzo had a fine Sunday afternoon at Estoril, with the young Spaniard scoring his first-ever Grand Prix victory in the premier class and taking the MotoGP points' lead in the process. Joining the Fiat Yamaha rider on the Portuguese GP podium were Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi. Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards was fourth, with Kawasaki's John Hopkins rounding out the top five, just ahead of reigning champ, Casey Stoner.
The podium finishers all started from the front row and right from the opening corner it was never in doubt that one of the three would be the victor in Portugal. The trio jumped out to the front, with Pedrosa snagging the holeshot. As the three battled for the lead in the opening laps, JiR Honda rookie Andrea Dovizioso tagged along in fourth place.
For most of the first half it looked like The Doctor might break his uncharacteristic winless GP streak, but then Lorenzo made his move. Actually, moves, as just prior to the halfway mark of the 28-lap race Lorenzo managed to overtake Pedrosa for second, and then Rossi for the lead. Pedrosa then slipped past Rossi for the trio's eventual finishing positions.
For Lorenzo, Estoril is the first of what is sure to be many GP wins in a promising career. The amazing thing is
After Lorenzo passed his Fiat Yamaha teammate, there was no looking back for the Spanish rookie. - Estoril
Lorenzo's win came in just his third attempt, all races where the 20-year-old started from the coveted pole position.
"I feel like I'm in heaven! First of all I have to say thank you to Yamaha and to Fiat because without their confidence in me I wouldn't be here now," said Lorenzo after his win. "I can't believe it and it's really impossible for me to describe my feelings, I'm so happy for everyone! My team did a fantastic job and my Yamaha and my Michelin tires worked very, very well today."
As for Lorenzo's factory Yamaha "teammate," Valentino Rossi is still very much in the title hunt, but still not The Doctor of old - at least not yet. The five-time premier champion expressed optimism post-race about the performance of his Brigestones, which he controversially switched to in the off-season.
"At the end of the day this isn't a bad result for us because we expected this to be quite a difficult track for us," said Rossi. "My M1 worked well today; I got a good start and was able to stay at the front to begin with and have some fun. My Bridgestone tires were working well but I was thinking about trying to conserve them as much as possible because I knew 28 laps was going to be hard. Unfortunately I couldn't stay with Lorenzo and Pedrosa in the later stages and I started to slide a little bit, but anyway to have two podiums in a row with Bridgestone is very important because we're still in the learning stages of our relationship. I think we've made another step forward this weekend and we have an important test tomorrow - I hope in China we will be able to fight for the win!"
Fourth place proved an unlucky spot, at least for Dovizioso and 2006 champ Nicky Hayden, with both riders crashing out of the race in that position. For upstart rookie Dovizioso, the crash came from the Honda satellite rider pushing his machine to the limit, with the Italian second only to Pedrosa in the results on the RC212V this season and often the top-running satellite rider in the paddock.
"The crash was only because I was pushing at the very maximum, entering the corner so very hard and so I lost grip at the front. Even if there were a lot of drops of rain around this didn't alter our performance. With my performance I don't think I can blame myself, these things happen," Dovizioso said.
Colin Edwards benefited from the aforementioned crashes and took the pneumatic Yamaha engine to a 13-point finish in his first race with the new equipment. Fellow American John Hopkins scored his best-ever finish on the Kawasaki, another positive step forward for the ZX-RR project.
"I'm really pleased as my aim was for a top-five finish today," said Hopkins after the race, later pointing out the area where the Kawi needs some work. "Our main area to improve on is qualifying, as we keep giving ourselves a lot of work to do in the race by having a poor grid position. I'm looking forward to Shanghai: the Kawasaki will be better suited to it and we can hopefully achieve an even stronger result there."
An on-board camera came loose during the race, hampering Stoner's ability to steer the Ducati GP8 effectively.
For Stoner, the problem at Estoril wasn't the rider or the bike, but a camera! An on-board camera attached to his GP8 came loose, dangling between the handlebars and fairing, with the Aussie rider reporting occasional locks on the steering and clutch lever because of it. In spite of the distraction, Stoner managed to score some solid points in sixth and looks ahead to China.
"I think a better result for sure was possible without this but we have to take this as a positive thing and not reflect on the negatives," said Stoner. "It wasn't a good weekend for us but the problem in the race was not a general fault with the bike, just one of those things that happens from time to time. We need to continue working hard in China, a track that should be a little better for us, and hope for a bit more luck."
James Toseland was not able to keep pace with his teammate Edwards, but finished a respectable seventh. The World Superbike champ was followed on the results sheet by the Rizla Suzuki duo of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, with San Carlo Gresini Honda's Shinya Nakano rounding out the top 10.
The MotoGP paddock now enjoys a three-week break before reconvening in Shanghai for the Chinese GP on May 4.
MotoGP Estoril Results:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 45'53.089
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda + 1.817
3. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team + 12.723
4. Colin Edwards (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha + 17.223
5. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing + 23.752
6. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro + 26.688
7. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha + 32.631
8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki + 36.382
9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki + 38.268
10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 39.476
11. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1'01.306
12. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team + 1'03.867 13. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro + 1'09.525
14. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team + 1'09.634
15. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP + 1'11.542
16. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing + 1'23.629
DNF Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 12 Lap
DNF Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 13
