Barros completes perfect weekend with Estoril win

Alex Barros went from pole position to victory to cap a perfect weekend for the
Brazilian, having dominated every session of the betandwin.com Grande Premio de
Portugal. In unpredictable cloudy and cool conditions at the Estoril circuit,
Barros chased early leader Sete Gibernau over the opening stages before the
Spaniard crashed out on the seventeenth lap.

As light drizzle began to fall, the teams prepared the riders' second machines
in case they needed to come in and change to wet tyres. However, despite a
precarious final three laps and a huge rear slide on the last of them, Barros
held his nerve to clinch his first win in over two years.

"I'm really happy because I had been quickest in every session this weekend but
this was the only one that really counted," smiled Barros, who last tasted
podium champagne at Valencia at the end of the 2002 season. "Sete got away well
and I didn't get a good start, but once I was up to second place I just tried to
put pressure on him. In the end he crashed and it was a hard race mentally from
that point on to keep my focus and stay on the bike."

Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi did their best to cut down the gap to Barros in
the closing stages but wisely decided not to take any risks as they sealed
podium finishes. Second place for Rossi extended his advantage at the top of the
overall standings to seven points, with Barros now moving up to second in the
championship, whilst third place for Biaggi represented a welcome first podium
of the season for the factory HRC team.

Marco Melandri continued his excellent start to the season, following up third
place in the opening round at Jerez with fourth place today after an
entertaining battle throughout the race with Colin Edwards. With the American
crashing five laps from the end, Carlos Checa took advantage to clinch fifth
place on the Ducati after starting from the front row whilst Edwards returned to
the track to bring his Yamaha home in sixth.

Nicky Hayden recovered from a bad start to take seventh after crashes for both
John Hopkins and Troy Bayliss in that position, with Shinya Nakano and Loris
Capirossi also making the top ten. Bayliss recovered to take twelfth behind
Ruben Xaus, with Kenny Roberts, Roberto Rolfo, Toni Elias and James Ellison
completing the points.

Casey Stoner took victory in a thrilling 250cc race after an audacious last lap
pass on Randy de Puniet. In a packed front group which also featured Andrea
Dovizioso, Dani Pedrosa and Alex de Angelis, Stoner made his move around the
outside of De Puniet as the Frenchman blocked the inside line in the famous
'Parabolica Interior' corner, before holding on to take his first win in the
class. Dovizioso then mugged De Puniet in the chicane to snatch second place,
with Pedrosa happy to take fourth ahead of De Angelis. Sebastian Porto had made
an electric start to the race but was swallowed up by the pack in the second
half as he seemed to suffer a technical problem, eventually crossing the line in
ninth place.

Mika Kallio became the first Finnish rider in 30 years to take a Grand Prix
victory with his debut win in the 125cc class. Kallio held off a late attack
from Spaniard Hector Faubel by just 0.008 seconds after the pair had dominated
the race. Swiss rider Thomas Luthi completed the podium.

INFO 2005/38. 17-04-2005
DORNA COMMUNICATIONS
www.motogp.com