Early morning mist turned to torrential rain on race day and threw two days of painstaking set-up work by riders and teams into disarray. The total crash toll for the day across all three classes was a staggering 66, nine of those in the MotoGP race. A crowd of nearly 32,000 endured frequent, soaking squalls to watch Ukawa finish third with Carlos Checa (Yamaha) in second place splitting the Repsol Honda riders.

Rossi and long-time race leader Sete Gibernau (Suzuki) exchanged fastest lap times with each other as the Italian World Champion stalked the Spaniard from mid-race onwards. Then Gibernau crashed just four laps from the finish while holding a three and a half second lead.

"I made a good start and tried to get into a rhythm," said Rossi. "But Gibernau didn't have the same idea and off he went. After Ukawa overtook me I got into a good rhythm and passed him and tried to chase Sete. I had to be very careful because it's so easy to make a small mistake in these conditions. Sete did and I feel very sorry for him. I'm really not sure if I would have caught him. I don't think so. The win is great in terms of the Championship and I'm really happy because some people thought I couldn't ride in the rain here. There have now been two wet races in the year and I've won both - very satisfying."

Tohru Ukawa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V) was content with third. "That was a very difficult race," said the Japanese. "I got a good start but I had to be very careful because it was so slippery. I overtook Valentino and tried to stay ahead, but he passed me and I nearly crashed several times trying to stay with him. Then Checa overtook me again and I tried to stay with him and nearly crashed. In the end this result is okay. I have another podium finish and I've strengthened my second position in the Championship - and this is the first time I've managed to finish a race at Estoril without crashing."

Alex Barros (West Honda Pons NSR500) was the first two-stroke across the finish line in fifth. "I am happy," said the Brazilian. "I tried everything and it was the absolute best I could have done. On the last lap I managed to pass Biaggi under braking on the back straight and pull out a few metres advantage on him so he couldn't pass me across the finish line. I'm really surprised by the difference in performance between Biaggi and me which shows I did a really good race."

Tetsuya Harada (Pramac Honda NSR500) finished this attritional race in tenth while Loris Capirossi (West Honda Pons NSR500) fell on lap seven. "I had trouble getting the feel of the bike in the tricky conditions," said Capirossi. "When I started to get more comfortable with how the bike was working, I suddenly lost the rear end and then I was on the ground."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh (Kanemoto Racing Honda NSR500) got a good start but was sidelined with machine component trouble after lap one. "Something went wrong with the quick-shifter and I had to stop," said the disappointed Dutchman. "On the second lap it was cutting in and then out and I was nearly highsided. It kept doing that so I had no choice but to stop. It's a great pity as I was third fastest in warm-up and was just behind Sete (Gibernau) in the race. It had to happen when I was set for my best race of the season."

Daijiro Kato (Fortuna Honda Gresini RC211V) struggled in his first wet race on a four-stroke and crashed out, but saw it as a learning process. "It's something I have to understand," said the Japanese star. "I didn't want to crash because I need time on the bike in the wet. I'm disappointed to crash, but even in the dry this track always seemed short of grip for me."

The MotoGP points table now shows Rossi in a commanding lead with 245 points with his team-mate Tohru Ukawa second on 156. Max Biaggi (Yamaha) has 144.

Unlucky Robby Rolfo (Fortuna Honda Gresini NSR250) was possibly robbed of his maiden 250 Grand Prix win, but fought hard for his fourth place finish in the rain-lashed race after starting from the front row of the grid for the fourth time in his career. A hotly disputed 10 second stop/go penalty was inflicted on him for jumping the start. The Italian finished only 23 seconds behind eventual winner Fonsi Nieto (Aprilia) - the 23 seconds (and more) that were absorbed by the highly controversial penalty. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) finished second, Sebastian Porto (Yamaha) third.

"It's an injustice," said Rolfo. "I didn't jump the start and I'm sure about that. I had a normal start - exactly the same as the others on the front row, so I have no idea why they penalised me. This was a race I could have won and I showed that by recovering to fourth after the stop/go. I feel I have been robbed of a great result."

Arnaud Vincent (Aprilia) won a rain-lashed, crash-strewn 125 race from Simone Sanna (Aprilia) who ran wide on the final turn allowing Vincent to claim his fourth win of the year. Steve Jenkner (Aprilia) was third. Masao Azuma (Liégeois Competition Honda RS125R) was a fighting fifth using all his experience to cope with the difficult conditions.

Quotes

Valentino Rossi, Repsol Honda Team, 1st: "This morning when I woke up I was sorry to see the weather. We had some good dry settings that we found yesterday and I was enjoying riding the bike again. I made a good start and tried to get a rhythm. However Gibernau didn't have the same idea and he went. After Ukawa overtook me I got good rhythm and passed him and tried to chase Sete. I had to be very careful, as it's very easy to make a small error. Sete did. I feel very sorry for him. I'm not sure if I would have caught him. I think not. The victory is great for the championship. I'm also happy because two years ago some people thought I couldn't ride in the rain here. There have been now two wet races in the year and I win both. Very satisfying."

Tohru Ukawa, Repsol Honda Team, 3rd: "It was a very difficult race. I got a good start but I had to be very careful, as it was so slippery. I overtook Valentino and tried stay ahead. He passed me and I nearly crashed several times trying to stay with him. Then Checa overtakes and again I tried to stay with him and nearly crash again. The result is good in the end. I have another podium finish and I have strengthened my second position in the championship. I am also happy as this is the first time I have managed to finish a race at Estoril without crashing!"

Alex Barros, West Honda Pons, 5th: "I am happy because I tried everything during the race and it was the best I could have done. In the beginning I had trouble staying with Mc Williams, who was pushing hard, but after his crash I stayed on Max Biaggi's wheel for the rest of the race. On the last lap I managed to pass Biaggi under braking on the back straight and get a few metres of advantage ahead of him so that he did not pass me on the finish line. I did not try the manoeuvre before because I knew he could pass me again easily. I am happy as I am the first two-stroke rider but I am really surprised by the difference in performance between Biaggi and me which shows that I really did do a good race. Finally I would also like to say that I thought that after the tyre testing with Michelin in Clermont Ferrand we would be closer to the four-strokes in wet conditions, but in reality it was completely the opposite. After the race it seems to me that the greater weight of these bikes gives them more front-end grip."

Sito Pons: " I am satisfied because Alex rode an intelligent race and fifth place in an excellent result for him. In fact he was the only two-stroke rider to stay with the four-strokes and that is a reflection of the good work he has done. Meanwhile, it was a great shame that Loris crashed because he was starting to lap quickly. Today was another demonstration of how the four-strokes are much easier to ride than the two-strokes in wet conditions and this was clear from the number of crashes amongst the two-strokes.

Loris Capirossi: Crashed: "In the beginning of the race I had trouble getting the feel of the bike in the tricky track conditions, but when I started feeling more comfortable I started to ride faster. Then, suddenly I lost the rear-end and I went to ground."

Daijiro Kato, Fortuna Honda Gresini, dnf: "From the start I understood that I couldn't have a good chance. I didn't have feeling from the bike because I've never tried this bike in the wet. Luckily I didn't hurt myself in the crash."

Fausto Gresini: "It's a pity after all the work we had done in practice to get on the front row. Usually Daijiro is not fast in the wet, but today he couldn't do more. In the warm up, after only four laps, he slid off and he had to start with a bike that was not perfect. During the race we didn't do a lot and the mistake ended the race on an unlucky note. We will make up for this in Brazil in two weeks time."

Jurgen van den Goorbergh, Kanemoto Honda, dnf: "Something went wrong with the quick-shifter system on lap two and I had to stop. The system is linked to the ignition system and every time you shift the ignition cuts momentarily. Unfortunately when it cut back in during the race it wasn't working at all after lap one. At the second lap at turn four it cut in and out and nearly high sided me. It kept doing that so I had no choice but to stop. A great pity as I was third fastest in the warm up, got a good start from 10th on the grid and was running really well in the race, just behind Sete (Gibernau). It had to happen to us on the day I was set for my best race of the season."

Team owner - manager Erv Kanemoto: "It appears that something in the quick-shifter system broke, maybe a wire or something. We don't know yet, we have to send it back to the factory to be looked at. Jurgen got a good start and was riding well, it looked like it would have been our best race of the season. We could have shown how much progress we have made recently, and just how good the Bridgestone tyres are in the wet."