Lorenzo says title still 'very difficult'

The Spaniard dominated the Portuguese Grand Prix throughout, while his Yamaha team-mate Rossi slumped to a distant fourth, 23s adrift.

The result brought Lorenzo back into realistic championship contention with three races still to go, but Lorenzo said he was not getting his hopes up.

"Now I've won again the championship is less impossible, but it continues to look very difficult," he said.

He was delighted with his performance at Estoril, scene of his maiden MotoGP win last year, having been quickest from the outset.

"Today is a very happy day for us," said Lorenzo. "A perfect weekend - we dominated every practice, and I had a good start. So I was very confident."

Lorenzo eventually stretched his winning margin to 6s over returnee Casey Stoner's Ducati.

"At the beginning Casey was very fast, really quick, so the difference was not so much," said the winner. "But after a few laps he slowed down a little bit and I could keep my pace."