Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) took his first pole position of the season for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal after Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) had looked the probable pole sitter until a late accident. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa took the last spot on the front row.

With dark clouds looming over the circuit, it was race winner from Jerez, Lorenzo who claimed his 17th MotoGP pole and the 43rd in his career. The Yamaha rider’s win in Spain was the 15th time he had stood on the top step on the podium, matched Alex Criville’s record of the most wins by a Spanish rider in the premier class. This is a circuit where the Mallorcan has won the last three races from pole position. Add a comment

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team rider Marco Simoncelli made a positive start to his weekend for the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal by setting the early pace in the first practice at Estoril. Repsol Honda riders’ Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa were second and third quickest in a closely fought session.

The Italian was fastest after his disappointment of crashing out whilst leading the wet race in Spain. The 24 year old’s best time of 1’38:032 was an advantage of 0.209s faster than the Australian after collecting the quickest time of FP1 in the dying moments.

At the undulating circuit in Portugal, the weather predictions had suggested for variable conditions but the first practice of the weekend for the MotoGP class was run in cloudy and humid conditions. After a three week break after Jerez, many riders were returning to the track following surgery from injuries. Add a comment

Pity the poor Portuguese MotoGP round. While so many other races sit ostentatiously in fixed slots in the calendar - Qatar as the season opener in March or April, Assen on the last Saturday in June, Laguna Seca as the last race in July before the summer break, Valencia as the last race of the season in November - the Estoril round of MotoGP is constantly being shoved back and forth in the calendar, from early to late and back to early again. Race fans planning a visit to the Portuguese Grand Prix are forced to wait for the calendar to be finalized before deciding whether to book a trip to the track on the edge of the Atlantic.

That vast body of water is part of the problem: the reason for shifting the Estoril MotoGP race back and forth in the calendar - apart from fitting it in among the more solid fixtures in the season - is to avoid the wet and windy conditions that so often prevail whenever the series visits the track. Add a comment

This weekend's Portuguese MotoGP has been moved forwards from the late season date it has held for the past two seasons, but that still might not be enough to avoid rain.

Rain fell for most of last year's Estoril grand prix weekend - although notably not for the race – and a 60% chance of rain is presently being forecast for all three days of the forthcoming event. There is also a 30% chance of rain on Monday's test day.

Should the track stay dry, Estoril will be the first event of the year to feature Bridgestone's asymmetric rear slick tyres, selected because of the imbalanced demands of the circuit.
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Dani Pedrosa has entered the second stage of his recovery in his race to be fit in time for the third round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship in Portugal.

The Spaniard underwent an operation to relieve the compression in the left subclavian artery last week, a legacy of the shoulder injury he sustained in an accident at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix. Revisiting doctors at the Teknon Medical Centre, they confirmed the wound is healing well and, with no infection, they expect to remove the stitches next week.

There has been no formal confirmation that Pedrosa will be fit in time for the third round at Estoril, though he is undergoing rehabilitation with a first stage of passive exercises of the left shoulder with the help of a physiotherapist. The Repsol Honda rider is currently classified second in the overall standings after finishing third and second in the opening two rounds. Add a comment

Home favourite Jorge Lorenzo won the Spain Grand Prix ahead of compatriot Dani Pedrosa, in a incident-packed race at wet Jerez. Clearly wasn't the day for betting in MOTO GP. Lots of crashes and big names going out. Who would have thought that Stoner will be out.

I am shoked that after Pedrosa managed to close the gap between him and Lorenzo at 0.5 seconds, after being on 9th place after the start, lost the pace and was at 2 laps to lose even 2nd place. Hope his surgery goes well and he will be back in full strenght. Here are the results.

• 1LORENZO J.Yamaha Factory RacingLap 27
• 2PEDROSA D.Repsol Honda Team+19.339
• 3HAYDEN N.Ducati Team+29.085
• 4AOYAMA H.San Carlo Honda Gresini+29.551
• 5ROSSI V.Ducati Team+1:02.227
• 6BARBERA H.Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP+1:08.440
• 7ABRAHAM K.Cardion AB Motoracing+1:14.120
• 8CRUTCHLOW C.Monster Yamaha Tech 3+1:19.110
• 9ELIAS T.LCR Honda MotoGP+1:42.906
• 10HOPKINS J.Rizla Suzuki MotoGP+1:48.395
• 11CAPIROSSI L.Pramac Racing Team+1:51.876

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• Po. Name TeamGap First
• 1STONER C.Repsol Honda Team1:38.757
• 2PEDROSA D.Repsol Honda Team+0.158
• 3LORENZO J.Yamaha Factory Racing+0.161
• 4SPIES B.Yamaha Factory Racing+0.633
• 5SIMONCELLI M.San Carlo Honda Gresini+0.729
• 6DOVIZIOSO A.Repsol Honda Team+0.952
• 7DE PUNIET R.Pramac Racing Team+1.135
• 8EDWARDS C.Monster Yamaha Tech 3+1.138
• 9CRUTCHLOW C.Monster Yamaha Tech 3+1.262
• 10AOYAMA H.San Carlo Honda Gresini+1.411
• 11HAYDEN N.Ducati Team+1.418

So our boy starts from 2nd place and as expected the battle was between the two team mates with Lorenzo being a good adversary throughout the qualification race. See you tomorrow for the race.

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Dani Pedrosa cast aside injury concerns to record the second fastest time in practice for Sunday's Spanish MotoGP.

The Spaniard discovered he had damaged nerves in his arm in a crash at the Japan Grand Prix in October 2010 and will have surgery after Sunday's race.

But he was fastest in the afternoon session in one minute, 40.101. Honda team-mate Casey Stoner posted the day's best overall time, his effort in first practice some six-tenths quicker than Pedrosa's afternoon best.

Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo improved on his fifth place in the morning to take third, half a second behind Pedrosa, while Marco Simoncelli posted the fourth fastest lap.

Valention Rossi was next up on the Ducati, almost a second slower than Pedrosa, while Randy de Puniet, Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden completed the top eight.

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