Lorenzo Claims Maiden Victory

Lorenzo has earned three pole positions and three podiums in the opening month of the 2008 MotoGP season and his win on Sunday moved him into a tie for first in the championship standings. The 20-year-old Lorenzo is the youngest rider in premier-class history to earn three straight podiums.

I feel like Im in heaven, says Lorenzo. I cant believe it and its really impossible for me to describe my feelings, Im so happy for everyone.

Lorenzo led Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi and Hondas Dani Pedrosa in a close battle on the first lap. Rossi took the lead from Lorenzo early in the second lap, leaving Lorenzo and Pedrosa to battle for second.

The start of the race was quite crazy because there were some drops of rain and it looked like it might get worse, says Lorenzo. Anyway I just carried on and really I cant remember the details of exactly what happened. I remember making my pass on Valentino; I know it was quite a risk so Im sorry to him but at that point I felt that I could make it and get away from him, so I took the chance and it worked.

With Lorenzo and Rossi finishing first and third, Fiat Yamaha earned its second double podium of the season.

I think weve made another step forward this weekend and we have an important test tomorrow, says Rossi. I hope in China we will be able to fight for the win.

After his difficult preseason, Pedrosa was pleased with his second-place finish, which leaves him in a tie with Lorenzo atop the championship standings.

Today was a good race, the beginning was quite fun, but also a little dangerous because it was raining a bit and there were a few passing maneuvers. When the rain stopped, the pace got faster and faster, so we had to concentrate very hard to maintain tire grip all the time. Eventually we finished second and were happy.

Colin Edwards of Tech 3 Yamaha claimed his best result of 2008 with a fourth place finish. He moved into fourth on lap 17 when he passed fellow American Nicky Hayden. Its Edwards best finish since the German GP last July.

I wanted to be on the podium but Ill settle for fourth, says Edwards. Its something to build on and now we have got the new engine we can look forward with a lot of confidence.

Kawasakis John Hopkins had his best ever finish at Estoril, one spot behind Edwards in fifth.

Im really pleased as my aim was for a top five finish today, says Hopkins. Im looking forward to Shanghai: the Kawasaki will be better suited to it and we can hopefully achieve an even stronger result there.

Ducatis Casey Stoner was hot on Hopkins heels, but had to settle for sixth place. Stoner fell back to 11th earlier in the race when part of the on-board camera on his G8 came loose.

It was incredible what happened today, we had a problem which was no fault of the bike from the beginning of the race, says Stoner. It was a major distraction. Sometimes the piece would lock the steering and sometimes it locked the clutch lever. It was a very difficult situation but eventually I worked out a way to ride around it.