Daniel Pedrosa was once again within touching distance of the podium at Estoril, taking a satisfactory fourth place in difficult conditions to consolidate his lead in the 250cc World Championship. Sebastian Porto made a strong start and opened up an advantage of over four seconds in just two laps, but he was reeled in by a group led by Dani at lap ten.

However, the World Champion began to suffer problems as his rear tyre began to slide and his visor constantly misted over. Pedrosa held out as well as he could and picked up thirteen vital points.

Hiroshi Aoyama, meanwhile, was satisfied with his performance after a hard battle with Takahashi, Guintoli and Sebastian Porto, who he passed five laps from the end after making up a five-second disadvantage.

DANI PEDROSA (4th): “Halfway through the race the rear tyre began to slide and I thought it would be the same for the other riders, but I dropped to the back of the group and realised I had more problems than them. I was losing a lot of ground in the final series of right handers because they are so long. Then twelve laps from the end my visor started to steam up on the left hand side and I had to open and close it on the straight. With all that going on and the uncertainty over the weather fourth place isn’t bad, although I would have liked to be on the podium.”

HIROSHI AOYAMA (6th): “It was a tough race but it was also very positive for me. It was very difficult to choose the tyre in the morning and the bike set-up because of the uncertainty over the weather but I think we made the right choice. I made a good start and I was able to follow the lead group at the beginning, but I made a small mistake and lost touch with them. After that I just concentrated on my pit board and catching Porto. I’m happy with the result”.

PORTUGUESE GP
1.Casey Stoner (Aus/Aprilia) 45’36”009
2.Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Honda) + 0”404
3.Randy De Puniet (Fra/Aprilia) + 0”431
4.Dani Pedrosa (Esp/Honda) + 2”009
5.Alex De Angelis (RSM/Aprilia) + 2”204
6.Hiroshi Aoyama (Jap/Honda) + 17”855

250cc WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
1.Dani Pedrosa  38 points
2.Andrea Dovizioso 33 points
3. Sebastián Porto 27 points
4.Alex De Angelis  27 points
....
10.Hiroshi Aoyama 10 points