2011 Estoril MotoGP Race Result: Tight Duel For Win Decided With Four Laps To Go

Results and summary of the MotoGP race at Estoril:

Dani Pedrosa has won the 2011 Portuguese MotoGP Grand Prix, seizing the lead in the final laps from Jorge Lorenzo, and preventing the Yamaha man from taking his forth victory in a row.

It was Lorenzo who grabbed the lead going into turn 1, holding off Pedrosa from pole, and taking charge of the race from the off. Behind the Spanish pairing, chaos ensued, with Marco Simoncelli and Casey Stoner nearly colliding in the first corner, Hector Barbera crashing a couple of corners later, and then Simoncelli hitting the dirt in turn 4. As the riders crossed the finish line for the first time, it was Lorenzo leading Pedrosa, with a tiny gap to Stoner, while Valentino Rossi had moved Andrea Dovizioso aside to follow in 4th.

That situation remained more or less stable for most of the race, with Lorenzo leading, but unable to shake the pesky Pedrosa from his tail, while Stoner was a couple of tenths off the pace of the leaders, and unable to make up the gap to join them. A tweaked muscle in his back later in the race saw the gap grow considerably, the victory now down to the two Spaniards at the front.

Lorenzo appeared to have the situation fully under control, holding off Pedrosa every lap as he tried to outbrake the Yamaha into Turn 1. That tactic was successful for 24 laps, but on the 25th, Pedrosa finally got past. Once he had taken the lead, Pedrosa left Lorenzo for dead, taking both a moral and a physical victory, winning the race but also proving to himself that his shoulder surgery had been a success. Lorenzo ended 2nd, with no way of stopping Pedrosa, and Stoner took 3rd a way behind the two Spaniards.

Valentino Rossi looked like clinching 4th, an outstanding result from the perspective of the Ducati's development, but the Italian had Andrea Dovizioso behind him. The Repsol Honda rider looked unable to attack Rossi, until the very last meters of the race. Dovizioso got better drive out of the final corner, and went on to snatch 4th ahead of Rossi less than a hundred meters from the finish line. Colin Edwards finished a lonely 6th, while Hiroshi Aoyama and Cal Crutchlow fought it out for 7th, the Japanese rider coming out on top.

Results:

Pos.	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Time	Diff
1	26	Dani PEDROSA	HONDA	45'51.483	?
2	1	Jorge LORENZO	YAMAHA	45'54.534	3.051
3	27	Casey STONER	HONDA	45'59.141	7.658
4	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	HONDA	46'08.013	16.530
5	46	Valentino ROSSI	DUCATI	46'08.038	16.555
6	5	Colin EDWARDS	YAMAHA	46'24.058	32.575
7	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	HONDA	46'30.232	38.749
8	35	Cal CRUTCHLOW	YAMAHA	46'32.395	40.912
9	69	Nicky HAYDEN	DUCATI	46'46.370	54.887
10	14	Randy DE PUNIET	DUCATI	46'51.180	59.697
11	24	Toni ELIAS	HONDA	46'51.857	1'00.374
12	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	DUCATI	46'53.276	1'01.793
13	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SUZUKI	47'15.853	1'24.370
Not Classified
?	11	Ben SPIES	YAMAHA	20'06.256	16 laps
?	17	Karel ABRAHAM	DUCATI	1'50.239	27 laps
Not finished first lap
?	58	Marco SIMONCELLI	HONDA	?	?
?	8	Hector BARBERA	DUCATI	?	?

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/EiphuqZViEA/2011_estoril_motogp_race_result_tight_du.html

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