Jorge Lorenzo repeated his Estoril win of last year from pole on Sunday to further boost his title hopes as Valentino Rossi was only able to manage a fourth placing at the demanding Portuguese track.

The Fiat Yamaha duo began in first and second spots on the grid, however Rossi was not able to match the speed of Lorenzo as he pulled away in front. On his return to racing, Ducati’s Casey Stoner raced with excellent pace to follow Lorenzo over the line in second position, whilse Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa came third.

Lorenzo now claims an 18 point deficit to Rossi with only three rounds left, the championship is much more achievable prior to the appearance in Portugal. The Spaniard was in fantastic form and his fourth victory of the year was stabilised by a 6.3s margin.

Stoner performed brilliantly on his return after two months away with an illness, taking his first stage appearance since Assen in June, he now has a home event at Phillip Island to look forward to in 2 weeks time.

Pedrosa raced smoothly from fourth on the grid, claiming the holeshot with one of his traditional beginnings and holding the lead for a short period before Lorenzo came through. Pedrosa’s third spot was his eighth stage podium this year.

World Champion Rossi seemed to be off-colour during the event, ending up off the podium for the sole time at Estoril in the upper class. The championship leader will follow through with an inquest to his lack of competitiveness with his squad after placing 23 seconds behind Lorenzo.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was 10 seconds behind Rossi in fifth spot, while Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) challenged off Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) for sixth over the line.

The top ten features Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), with Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) smashing out early and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) retiring because of technical issues.