MotoGP preview: Estoril

Round four of the 2012 Road Racing World Championship will be held at Estoril in Portugal from May 4-6, with the riders given just four days to recover from last Sunday’s round at Jerez.

Estoril track combines a long straight, some tyre-punishing corners, heavy braking zones, and a tricky chicane in between.

Challenging enough as it is, riders and teams will be hoping for greatly improved weather conditions compared to Jerez, which provided different track conditions for almost every session.

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, who won three years in a row at the Portuguese circuit between 2008 and 2010, will be looking to replicate that kind of form on board his Yamaha Factory Racing machine, as he looks to hold off the challenge from Repsol Honda Team pair Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa.

For Stoner, who won last weekend´s Jerez round after being stalked all the way by Lorenzo, this is now the only track on the current MotoGP calendar where he has not yet recorded a premier-class win. As well as wanting to make it a full house, taking the championship lead off his Yamaha rival will be top of the agenda for the Australian.

Pedrosa took the win at Estoril last year ahead of Lorenzo and Stoner. Despite not running with the pair at the front in Jerez, Pedrosa is looking in good form, and is likely to mount a serious challenge.

Monster Yamaha Tech3´s Cal Crutchlow, who continues to be the revelation of the season after almost getting the better of Pedrosa in Spain, will be seeking his first ever podium finish in the premier class. Coy about his performances so far, the Britain will no doubt be boosted by his latest showing. His teammate, Italian Andrea Dovizioso, is still getting to grips with the Yamaha, yet will be buoyed by his fourth place finish at the Portuguese track last year.

Lorenzo´s teammate Ben Spies, who has endured two tricky first rounds, will not want to finish last Yamaha for a third time in a row, and has vowed to bounce back in the next race, after showing much promise in pre-season testing aboard his bike.

San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Álvaro Bautista and LCR Honda MotoGP´s Stefan Bradl have been consistently fast on their satellite Hondas in the first two rounds of the season. Last year at this point, Bautista was still recovering from a broken femur and finished last, while Bradl won the Moto2 race.

Ducati Team pair Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden have not had an easy start to the season, yet have been boosted by some glimpses of hope in Jerez; Hayden by putting his Ducati on the front row of the grid, and Rossi by discovering some good form in the wet. Tyre wear and handling continues to be an issue, yet the team feels it is now heading in the right direction.

Pramac Team´s Hèctor Barbera, who has tussled with Rossi the previous two races will be looking to get one over the Italian in Portugal. Second satellite Ducati rider, Cardion AB Motoracing´s Karel Abraham, has had a disappointing start to the season and will be looking to turn his fortunes around this time out.

The new Claiming Rule Teams (CRT) did not have it easy in Jerez, having to adapt to the ever-changing weather and track conditions with little previous data to go on. The coming round will not prove and awful lot easier, as Estoril is a track which is renowned for providing set-up complications due to its highly varied nature.

Power Electronics Aspar´s Aleix Espargaró finished top CRT last weekend, after his teammate Randy de Puniet retired towards the end. Paul Bird Motorsport´s James Ellison and San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Michele Pirro suffered a similar fate, while Came IodaRacing Project´s Danilo Petrucci recorded a positive 13th place for his team. Joining them will be Speed Master´s Mattia Pasini, NGM Mobile Forward Racing´s Colin Edwards, as well as Avintia Blusens pair Yonny Hernandez and Iván Silva, who will once again be gunning for top CRT spot.

Live coverage begins on Channel Ten at 9.30pm on May 6.