On Sunday night Jerez closed its doors on one of the most spectacular and exciting starts to a season in recent years, with the MoviStar team at the heart of the action. Daniel Pedrosa warmed up the atmosphere with an impressive 250cc victory at lunchtime, his first ever success at Jerez and the perfect way to begin his World Championship defence.

Later in the afternoon Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri followed the route to the podium as they took second and third place in a MotoGP race that will be forever remembered as a ferocious battle between the top two riders in the world, as well as a historic podium for Marco on his Honda debut. Eleven and a half million people followed the spectacular event live on television, whilst many more will be tuning in this Sunday for the second instalment of a seventeen-chapter thriller.

With barely any time to rest, the World Championship circus arrives in Portugal this weekend, another major challenge for the MoviStar riders. Only Marco Melandri knows what it is like to step up to the podium there, having made the rostrum on three occasions during his time in the 250cc class. The Italian crashed out of the race last year whilst Sete Gibernau and Dani Pedrosa have both finished fourth for the past two seasons and Hiroshi Aoayama took ninth on his debut there last year.

Sete Gibernau is still recovering from the left shoulder injury he suffered in his collision with Valentino Rossi in the final corner at Jerez. The Spaniard will not be 100% fit for Portugal but is confident that the anti-inflammatory and ultrasound treatment he is receiving will take effect by Friday and allow him to take part in the first free practice sessions at Estoril.

Marco Melandri now knows that he has the ability to run with the men at the front. Despite not quite matching the electric rhythm set by his team-mate in last Sunday's race, he showed that he had the necessary pace in every practice and qualifying session and used his head in the race, taking his first podium on the Honda RC211V with the MoviStar Honda MotoGP team.

Dani Pedrosa continues to dominate the intermediate category and the Portuguese Grand Prix presents another target for the World Champion. Strong winds will no doubt make life complicated for Dani at Estoril but the rider and his team are confident that they can find the right compromise for his Honda at a circuit that demands a perfect set-up. Hiroshi Aoyama is keen to show his progress at a circuit he tested at just a few days ago and banish the bad memories of Jerez, after being knocked out of the race in a collision with Héctor Barberá.

RIDER QUOTES

Sete Gibernau:
"I'm feeling very highly motivated for the Portuguese Grand Prix and the only thing I'm thinking about is recovering as well as I possibly can and continuing in the same way that we have started the championship. It's a shame there isn't a week between the races to be in better shape but I'm confident that it will have a minimal effect on our work."

Marco Melandri:
"The podium at Jerez gives me a lot of confidence for the next race. We haven't tested at Estoril this winter but I felt good all weekend at Jerez and I think I can be amongst the fastest riders again. I scored three consecutive podiums at Estoril in the 250cc class but I crashed out in the MotoGP race last year, so hopefully I can get back to scoring good results on the RC211V. The circuit is a bit slow for a MotoGP bike but I like it."

Dani Pedrosa:
"Estoril is a difficult circuit where we will again suffer from the wind, as we always do. We'll have to be on our guard because the gusts can catch you out and it's easy to crash. We'll just try and do a good job on the bike because it's always difficult to find the right set-up there. We'll all have to concentrate hard from the first moment to prepare properly for the race."

Hiroshi Aoyama:
"The big problem at Estoril as far as I am concerned is the wind, which makes life very complicated. The track has several hard braking points and I feel comfortable at that kind of circuit. Hopefully I can have good practice sessions, as I did at Jerez, and give myself a good chance in the race. I'm looking forward to riding again because I felt very disappointed when I left Jerez".

THE VENUE

PORTUGUESE GP

Circuit: Estoril
Grand Prix: Grand Prix of Portugal
Inauguration: 1972
Latest modification: 1999
Length: 4,182m
Width: 14m.
Right corners: 9
Left corners: 4
Main straight: 986m

HISTORIC RESULTS MOVISTAR RIDERS IN ESTORIL

	Rider	Category	Classification
1996	Sete Gibernau	250cc	No GP
1997	Sete Gibernau	500cc	No GP
1998	Sete Gibernau	500cc.	No GP
	Marco Melandri	125cc.	No GP
1999	Sete Gibernau	500cc.	No GP
	Marco Melandri	125cc.	No GP
2000	Sete Gibernau	500cc.	-
	Marco Melandri	250cc.	3rd
2001	Sete Gibernau	500cc.	-
	Marco Melandri	250cc.	2nd
	Dani Pedrosa	125cc.	5th
2002	Sete Gibernau	MotoGP	-
	Marco Melandri	250cc.	2nd
	Dani Pedrosa	125cc.	10th
2003	Sete Gibernau	MotoGP	4th
	Marco Melandri	MotoGP	7th
	Dani Pedrosa	125cc.	4th
2004	Sete Gibernau	MotoGP	4th
	Marco Melandri	MotoGP	-
	Dani Pedrosa	250cc.	4th
	Hiroshi Aoyama	250cc.	9th

THE CIRCUIT ACCORDING TO:

SETE GIBERNAU:
Estoril: windy
Estoril is another bogey track for me. I like the circuit itself and I always feel comfortable riding there, but the results have never done me justice. It's like a love-hate relationship. From a technical point of view it has one of the slowest chicanes on the calendar and it's always really windy.

MARCO MELANDRI:
Estoril: slow
I don't like it too much: there is one long straight and several first gear corners. Also the track surface isn't in the best condition and there are a lot of bumps. It's fun to ride a MotoGP bike from turn four to turn seven. You have to be good on the brakes at Estoril and also be fast out of the corners.

DANI PEDROSA:
Estoril: strong blasts
The most influential factor at Estoril is the wind; there are always strong blasts across the circuit that make it difficult to ride. It's a twisty circuit with a long straight where riders tend to bunch together. It's not easy to break clear here and the races are often in big groups.

HIROSHI AOYAMA
Estoril: learning difficulties
It's one of the circuits that I found most difficult to get to grips with last season. It's a small track with tight chicanes and little bumps in the surface. I still haven't got used to it.

LAP RECORDS:

MOTOGP
Circuit record: 1'38"423 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha 2004)
Pole 2004: 1'37"933 Makoto Tamada (Honda)
Podium 2004 : 1.Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 2. Makoto Tamada (Honda), Alex Barros (Honda)

250 CC.
Circuit record: 1'41"595 Toni Elías (Honda, 2004)
Pole 2004: 1'41"417 Daniel Pedrosa (Honda)
Podium 2004: 1. Toni Elías (Honda), 2. Sebastián Porto (Aprilia), 3. Randy De Puniet (Aprilia)

125 CC.
Circuit record: 1'45"573 Héctor Barberá (Aprilia, 2004)
Pole 2004: 1'46"280 Andrea Dovizioso (Honda)
Podium 2004: 1. Héctor Barberá (Aprilia), 2. Mika Kallio (KTM), 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Derbi)

SUNDAY TIMETABLE (CET)
12.15h. 250cc race (26 laps, 108,732 kms.)
14.00h. MotoGP race (28 laps, 117,096 kms.)
15.30h. 125cc race. (23 laps, 96,186 kms.)