Not only does MotoGP™ make a return to Portugal but that final round in Portimao could well be the decider if those first four incredible races are an indication. Those first two Portuguese Grands Prix did not actually take place in Portugal. The very first Grand Prix was held on the outskirts of Madrid at the Jarama circuit in September 1987. The next season Portugal continued on the Grand Prix calendar but at a new venue and again not in Portugal. We then had a 12 year wait before the next Portuguese Grand Prix but, at last, it was in Portugal at the fantastic Estoril circuit just outside Lisbon. In 2000 at last, Estoril was ready to stage a motorcycle Grand Prix and Garry McCoy did not let us down. Who could forget the Pedrosa/Hayden crash in 2006 and Toni Elias’s win in the same race after Kenny Roberts celebrated victory a lap too early. Who could forget that final Grand Prix in 2012 won by Casey Stoner on the Honda?

Follow MotorMouth on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•