Ron Lieback: AllAboutBikes Content Editor

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Estoril was Stoner's Race

Sure, the MotoGP Championship battle is on between the Fiat Yamaha teammates, but this week's Estoril race was more than the shocking non-podium finish by Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo's dominating performance.

More? Well how about the man who placed second in the first race after two months off? Yes, I'm speaking of Casey Stoner, who finished 6.294 seconds behind Lorenzo after one hell of an Aussie performance. For a man who suffered from severe fatigue up until just the week before Estoril, the Ducati Marlboro rider showed his dedication to the sport.

Stoner, in my opinion, stole the headlines at Portugal during the 14^th Round of MotoGP action. Returning to speeds over 200 mph while still not obviously 100 percent was a big decision, and possibly a bold one to some, but it shows much moto-character.

It's that heart of his that gives him the headlines, showing the love for the leading third in the greatest trinity of the sports world: MotoGP, World Superbike and AMA Superbike racing.

All you have to do is listen to his words to hear this passion: "We didn't expect to do this well and in fact up until a week and a half ago I still had similar problems to those I had two months ago. It was only a sodium diet and a few other things that seem to have helped. I'm hoping that we have discovered my low blood pressure levels to be the problem and we can look forward to Phillip Island and trying to be competitive there. I hope it is a bit colder than most of the tracks we go to as that might help my physical condition a bit more."

I'm hoping the cold weather arrives at Phillip Island the weekend of October 18th also...that would be a nice birthday gift for Stoner, who turns 24 on October 16^th during Friday Free Practice at his home track.

After his Estoril performance, Stoner now has 170 points with three rounds remaining. Even if the Australian won the next three races, and Rossi, Lorenzo or Dani Pedrosa each have a DNF, Stoner still wouldn't have enough points to grab the championship.

It's a big "what if", but what if Stoner didn't suffer from that severe fatigue? Would that No. 27 Ducati be in a tighter battle with the Fiat Yamaha team?