Lorenzo scores first win at Estoril

The Fiat Yamaha rider, who also set a record three consecutive pole positions since his debut, stormed to victory after taking the lead on lap 13 of the 28-lap race, when he first overtook arch-rival Dani Pedrosa for second and then Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi, who had been leading since lap three.

Pedrosa made a late charge for the lead with his Repsol Honda, but ultimately finished second, 1.8 seconds behind his Spanish compatriot. The two are now jointly leading the championship.

After losing the lead, Rossi was overtaken by Pedrosa on lap 15 and managed to stay with the leading duo for some three more laps, before starting to lose ground with a gap from Pedrosa that widened to eleven seconds by the end of the race.

Fourth place looked like going to JiR Team Scot Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, who ran with the top three until lap 16, when he crashed out of the race. That position was inherited by Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden, but he, too, crashed a lap later.

Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards thus took fourth, followed by the Kawasaki of John Hopkins and the Ducati Marlboro of Casey Stoner in sixth.

The reigning world champion dropped out of the top ten by lap nine, yet managed to claw back positions in the space of the following 12 laps by overtaking rivals James Toseland, seventh on Tech 3 Yamaha, Chris Vermeulen, eighth on Rizla Suzuki, and Randy de Puniet, 15th after crashing his LCR Honda on the penultimate lap.

Ninth place went to Suzuki's Loris Capirossi, with Shinya Nakano rounding up the top ten with his Honda Gresini.

The track remained dry throughout the race despite a few drops of rain causing the stewards to show the white flag to the riders on lap three, signalling they could pit to change bikes with wet set-ups.

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  45:53.089
 2.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (M)  +   1.817
 3.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  +  12.723
 4.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  +  17.223
 5.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  +  23.752
 6.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  +  26.688
 7.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  +  32.631
 8.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  +  36.382
 9.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  +  38.268
10.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  +  39.476
11.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  +1:01.306
12.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  +1:03.867
13.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  +1:09.525
14.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  +1:09.634
15.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  +1:11.542
16.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  +1:23.629

Retirements:

     Rider             Bike           Laps
     Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  16
     Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  15