MotoGP Round 14. October 2007

While just about everyone one expected things to pan out that way, the actual race didn't follow the predicted script!
The first surprise was the pace of Makoto Tamada (Tech 3 Yamaha), who was second quickest on the first day of practice. An even bigger surprise unfolded the following day when Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) secured pole with a blazing 1'36.301 lap, while team mate, Pedrosa, was a respectable fifth on the grid.

The race went Stoner's way early, as the Aussie grabbed the holeshot with Pedrosa as his shadow through the early laps. Rossi dropped from first row of the grid back to fourth, but soon passed Hayden for third. On lap six, he overhauled Stoner and started a chase after Pedrosa, who had taken the lead two laps prior.

From there, the race was a two man dogfight between the Italian and the Spaniard. Rossi held the lead over Pedrosa through the race's mid-section, before Pedrosa wrestled it back, all the while with Stoner close behind. Hayden was also zeroing in on Stoner, threatening for the final podium spot.
The closing laps were the race's most entertaining, as Rossi made a series of lunges and feints, dancing around Pedrosa's back wheel as he wrung the neck of his Yamaha M1. A desperate braking dive at the start of the 24th lap didn't pay off for Rossi, but he successfully pulled a similar move on the same lap (lifting the rear wheel in the process!) to take the lead, and hold it to the chequered flag.

As impressive as Rossi and the factory Hondas were, the factory Suzuki outfit were equally unimpressive. John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen both qualified on the fourth row of the grid and never threatened, eventually finishing sixth & 13th respectively. Ant West finished 12th.

MotoGP - Rd. 14
1. V. Rossi Yamaha 45'49.911 2. D. Pedrosa Honda + .0175
3. C. Stoner Ducati + 1.477
4. N. Hayden Honda + 12.951
5. M. Melandri Honda + 17.343
6. J. Hopkins Suzuki + 18.857
7. C. Checa Honda + 31.524
8. T. Elias Honda + 40.535
9. L. Capirossi Ducati + 43.107
10. C. Edwards Yamaha + 44.674
Championship Points - after 14 rounds
1. Stoner - 287, 2. Rossi - 211, 3. Pedrosa - 188, 4. Hopkins - 150, 5. Vermeulen 147, 6. Melandri 137, 7. Edwards 106, 8. Capirossi 105, 9. Hayden 105, 10. Barros 83.

250cc
After an atrocious start, Alvaro Bautista put in some quick, but ragged looking laps to take the win from established stars like Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. Despite leading the championship, Lorenzo has never won at the Portuguese circuit in the 250cc class.

125cc
The Aspar Aprilia duo of Hector Faubel and Gabor Talmacsi duelled amongst themselves for the win in Portugal. Faubel slipstreamed the Hungarian on the line to take the victory and cut his championship points deficit to Talmacsi to a mere five points going into the next round.