Lorenzo Slices Rossi's Lead To 18 Points

INDIANAPOLIS, October 5, 2009: After a dominant victory by Jorge Lorenzo on Oct. 4 in Portugal, the race is back on in MotoGP.

2009 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Lorenzo started from pole and led all 28 laps of the Grand Prix of Portugal at the Estoril Circuit for his fourth victory of the season. Lorenzo pulled to within 18 points of Fiat Yamaha teammate and points leader Valentino Rossi with just three races remaining.

Six-time MotoGP World Champion Rossi had an uncharacteristically sluggish weekend, finishing fourth, 23.428 seconds behind his teammate.

“What a day!” Lorenzo said. “I’m so happy to win here again in the same track where I won my first MotoGP race last year.

“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.”

2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner finished second on his Ducati Team machine, 6.294 seconds behind Lorenzo. It was Stoner’s first race since July 26, as he had missed the last three races due to illness.

Dani Pedrosa finished third on his Repsol Honda. He led for the first few corners of Lap 1 before Lorenzo took the lead for good.

The only suspense left in the race was how the charismatic Lorenzo would celebrate his victory. He wore leathers and a helmet that paid tribute to the U.S. Apollo lunar landing program, so Lorenzo did a “moonwalk show” as a salute to Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.

While Lorenzo celebrated, it’s safe to say 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP winner Rossi wasn’t in a party mood. He qualified second but dropped to fourth on the first lap. He never challenged the top three due to a rear grip problem and finished off the podium at Estoril for the first time in his career.

Americans Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden finished fifth and eighth, respectively.

Edwards rode his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine across the line two places ahead of Andrea Dovizioso’s Repsol Honda bike, picking up two points in their spirited duel for fifth in the point standings. Dovizioso leads, 142-134.

“If you’re the next best rider behind the top four in the world, then you’ve done a good job, and I rode the strongest race I could today,” Edwards said. “We’ve got three races to go, and I’ll be giving it my all, as always, because I really want that fifth spot in the championship.”

Hayden was plagued by lack of grip during the race on his Ducati.

The next event is the Grand Prix of Australia on Oct. 18 at Phillip Island.