Portuguese Hat Trick for Lorenzo

Added on Monday, November 1st, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has won the Portuguese Grand Prix, after starting in pole position at the Estoril circuit, for the third year in a row.

Despite rainy weather conditions which dominated the qualifying sessions, forcing organisers to abandon the track on Saturday, Lorenzo started in pole position on Sunday after picking up the quickest qualifying time.

Although Lorenzo crashed heavily in the torrential rain and strong winds during the attempted qualifying session, he still battled it with Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi to take top spot on the podium.

Rossi lead the pack from the fourth lap but Lorenzo passed him on lap 17 at Estoril, before going on to pick up his first Grand Prix win since the Czech Grand Prix back in August. Teammate Rossi came in second while Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso finished in third place.

Lorenzo commented: “I got a great start and was in the lead but eventually Valentino overtook me and then off he went. He had a better pace than me then and I couldn’t go with him,”

The Spaniard added: “As the track got drier I found my pace improving and then step by step I closed the gap and was able to get past him.”

There’s only one race remaining this season and Lorenzo has amassed a huge 358 points, which puts him on track to overtake Rossi’s record score of 373 points in one season.

It was a successful weekend for Yamaha as they have now completed the triple crown of teams’, riders’ and manufacturers’ titles.

Meanwhile, Casey Stoner crashed out of the Estoril race after just four laps when he lost control of his Ducati and slid into the gravel trap at the 13^th turn, while Dani Pedrosa made his return after missing the past three races due to injury and finished in eighth place. Pedrosa still has a chance to take the overall runner-up spot if he performs well at the final race of the season in Valencia with a total of 236 points so far.

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