Portugal

Portugal has a rich seafaring past, superb beach resorts, wistful towns and a landscape wreathed in olive groves, vineyards and wheat fields. Littered with UNESCO World Heritage sites and graced by one of Europe's most relaxed and attractive capitals, it also remains refreshingly affordable.

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Date: 13 April 2008
Venue: Estoril
Track length: 4182m
Laps: 28
Race length: 117.096km
2007 winner: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)

Surrounded by hills in the countryside north of Lisbon, Estoril often provides MotoGP riders with difficult conditions as they batle strong winds coming off the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Conditiions were further affected in 2005 when the race was switched from its usual September slot to April. Although there is a 986m main straight, Estoril is one of the slowest races in the MotoGP season helped by the Varante chicane which slows the riders dramatically. Tyres compounds are critical in order to cope with the track; there are 10 right-handers and only four left-hand corners.

MotoGP 2008 racing calendar