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MotoGP racing hit Estoril Portugal this weekend, and all eyes were on Casey Stoner as he took to motorcycle racing for the first time since taking three races off to help sort out his medical condition. Stoner’s return provided a quick reprieve to the Fiat-Yamaha camp, where riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo continue to battle for precious Championship points. With a 1-2 qualifying, Sunday’s race easily telegraphed itself to be a good one, and it didn’t disappoint. Spoilers and race results after the jump.

30 points separate teammates Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi in the MotoGP Championship, and as they battle in these last four races for the title, they now have to contend with Casey Stoner once again, who could take away precious points from the Fiat-Yamaha pair. While Stoner’s return to MotoGP, after a three race respite, has grabbed the media’s attention, the real race for the Championship rests squarely on one team’s shoulders.

MotoGP is at Misano, Italy today for the San Marino GP, where Jorge Lorenzo is looking to close in on his points deficit to leader Valentino Rossi. The week at San Marino has been a busy one, seeing the formal singing of Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso to another year with Honda Racing. We also saw the announcement that Ben Spies would remain in WSBK for 2010, and that Colin Edwards will more than likely remain at Tech3 Yamaha. Then of course, there is the race itself.

With Championship points on the line, all eyes were on Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. But, wedged in-between the Fiat-Yamaha pair on the starting grid was Dani Pedrosa, who could showed at the Indianapolis GP that he is more than capable of throwing a wrench in Lorenzo’s bid to claw points away from Rossi.

With San Marino officially the third smallest country by territory size, the San Marino GP does not actually take place within the soverign’s borders. Instead, MotoGP action comes to you this weekend from the coastal Italian track of Misano, where a slew of MotoGP riders are looking for redemption from their performances at Indianapolis.

The track temperatures have been scortching hot all week, and even with a coastal breeze blowing through the course today, the ambient temperature was still over 98° F. With only 25 points now separating Jorge Lorenzo from Valentino Rossi, all eyes are on the Fiat-Yamaha pair to see who will take the MotoGP Championship.

The second running of the Indianapolis GP found much better weather than last year, with a bone dry track this time around. With a strong showing from Dani Pedrosa all week, the Americans on the second row, and a lot of contracts still up in the air, the 75,000 fans at The Brickyard were treated to a great showing of GP racing as the Championship takes another step to completion.

MotoGP returns to the USA for the second time this year, this time trading in the heat and surf of Laguna Seca for the rain of Indianapolis. Riders battled a wet then dry track this week, and a shrinking number of spots for rides next year. With that pressure starting to ramp up, it comes as no surprise that we see some lurkers making their move on the grid. The end result thus far: one broken pole record.

After a two week hiatus, MotoGP is back to racing with a stop in the Czech Repubilc. Amongst the press conferences, and positioning for next year, the riders actually made it out to the track to qualify for Sunday’s race. The masters of two-wheels clearly used their break to hone their game, and for the first time a pole position record was broken since the introduction of the one-tire rule.

With this being MotoGP’s last stop at Donington for the foreseeable future, the British venue seems to be putting its best foot forward. Agreeable weather, rabid fans, and close qualifying makes Sunday’s race and send off that much more enjoyable. It won’t be all clear skies though, Sunday’s weather forecast is showing some rain, and undoubtedly riders are practicing their bike swapping out in their minds.