Portugal Win

Valentino Rossi, seven-time world champion, kept the race for the MotoGP title very much alive by winning the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril ahead of Spain's Danny Pedrosa in second and championship leader Casey Stoner from Australia who finished third.

Rossi dedicated his win to Colin McRae, former world rally champion, who was killed this weekend along with his five-year-old son and two family friends in a helicopter crash in Scotland.

"He was one of my idols when I was young. He was the Kevin Schwarz (US Grand Prix rider of 1990's) of motor rallies," said Rossi.

"It is a very sad day for motor sports but I'm happy to have been able to win for him today."

Rossi crossed the finish line just ahead of Pedrosa after a tense battle with the Spaniard to claim only his fourth victory of the season, while Stoner finished a distant third.

"This victory was very important for me at the moment," Rossi said after the race.

"When you haven't won for a long time it's like you haven't had sex for a long time, men will understand what I mean."

"It's a big win after the problems we had on the other circuits. And it was a great battle with Dani (Pedrosa) and, Casey (Stoner) and Nicky (Hayden). I had fun."

An irritated Stoner expressed disappointment with the result and said he suffered mechanical problems.

"I was a little bit disappointed, but I had a small problem with the clutch which made me lose contact with the leaders," he said.

With 100 points still up for grabs in the remaining four races, Stoner, who has won eight races this year, holds a 76-point lead over a resurgent Rossi going into next week's race in Japan.

"Our job now is to try and keep the championship open as long as possible and to fight Dani for second place," said Rossi.

The Italian Yamaha rider is in second place ahead of Pedrosa, who has a 99-point deficit on Stoner, who, if he succeeds will become the first Australian world champion since Mick Doohan in 1994-1995.