Jorge Lorenzo clinched his first Moto GP

The Spaniard, who has been in pole position for all three Grands Prix this season, held off the challenge of compatriot Dani Pedrosa in Estoril. Lorenzo's Yahama team-mate Valentino Rossi claimed the final podium spot, with Colin Edwards taking fourth place. Britain's James Toseland finished behind defending champion Casey Stoner in seventh position.

Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Rossi had started in the front three places on the grid, with Rossi, who is on the longest winless streak of his career, fastest out of the blocks. But just before the midway point of the race, the reigning 250cc world champion stole past Rossi and once in the lead, he was never seriously threatened, eventually coming home 1.817 seconds ahead of second-placed Pedrosa.

"I don't believe it, I can't say anything more because today is happiest day of my life," said a clearly emotional Lorenzo after the race. Speaking of the moment when he passed Rossi to take the lead, he said "I saw it was the moment to pass him and to push hard and try to go away - it happened to perfection.

"Stoner's sixth place finish was all the more creditable considering that early in the race he dropped back to 11th. Afterwards, he revealed the problem had been a loose on-board television camera.

"I didn't know what it was and I was very afraid that the box was coming off and it was something important," he told autosport.com. "So I was trying to put it back in, and it would get in-between the steering and sometimes lock the clutch or lock the steering."

Spots of rain added an element of confusion to the race, with Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden both possibly falling foul of it as they crashed out from promising positions for no obvious reason. This helped push James Toseland up to seventh place, and after sixth placed finishes in his opening two races, he said paid the price for a lack of aggression on an unfamiliar circuit.

"I had rain spots on the visor and it was just a lack of experience, I didn't know how much you could push in those conditions," he said. "I wasn't aggressive enough on the first few laps and I lost some distance on the leaders, but to qualify on the second row and be fifth on the championship now, I believe, it's encouraging.

"It was a bit frustrating that I wasn't further forward but I look forward to going to tracks that I do know and take advantage of the new package we've got."