Lorenzo lost the lead at the start to Honda's Dani Pedrosa, but he quickly got back into the lead in the same lap. From that point on, it was only a matter of how bigger margin he was going to build up front, as he easily passed his rivals in lap times.
In the end, Lorenzo won the race by over 6 seconds, but this time it wasn't his title rival and Yamaha teammate to finish runner-up, but Ducati's returnee Casey Stoner. The Australian rider silenced the critics with a solid performance on Sunday, scoring a podium after 3 races of absence in the series.
Finally, Pedrosa went on to complete the podium, some 3 seconds off pace to Stoner. The overall podium was not contested in any way by points leader Valentino Rossi, as the Italian lacked pace on his Yamaha for the majority of the race. The Italian champion lost around one second per lap in Portugal and had to settle for a disappointing 4th place, therefore losing 12 points to Lorenzo in the overall classification.
Fifth overall was Yamaha Tech 3's Colin Edwards, who continued his great run in the 2009 season and finished ahead of Honda Gresini's Toni Elias. Completing the Top 10 were Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati's Nicky Hayden, Tech 3's James Toseland and Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen.
In the overall standings, Rossi now leads from his teammate Lorenzo by only 18 points, with 3 rounds to go in the season.
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