1 Nov 2010

Lorenzo wins again after passing team-mate Rossi

5:51 am on 1 November 2010

MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo won the Portuguese Grand Prix from pole position for the third year in a row after a battle with Yamaha team mate Valentino Rossi.

Outgoing champion Rossi led the early part of the race, despite Spaniard Lorenzo taking the top slot on the grid after a rain-hit qualifying, but was passed by his team mate after 17 of the 28 laps at Estoril.

Lorenzo, who won the title in Malaysia earlier this month, then powered away to take his first race win since the Czech Grand Prix in August and eighth of the season by an 8.629 second margin.

Honda's Andrea Dovizioso finished third behind fellow-Italian Rossi.

Australian Casey Stoner crashed out after four laps when he lost the rear of the Ducati and slid into the gravel trap at turn 13.

With one race remaining, Lorenzo has an unassailable 358 points and is on course to overhaul Rossi's 2008 record tally of 373 in a single season.