The 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix remains one of ꦚthe most dramatic races of the MotoGP era.

The 16th and p💞enultimate round of the 2006 world championship, Estoril was action-packed from start to finish - culminating in a thrilling three-way last lap victory battle between Ke🏅nny Roberts, Valentino Rossi and Toni Elias.

The significance of what happened in that race has since grown, with man😼y of the la🌳ndmarks set that day still in place.

Ahead of⛎ the 2009 Portuguese Grand Prix, which takes place next weekend, here is a summary of the most significant moments from the 2006 race:

o The motorsport world was stunned when Nicky Hayden got taken out by Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa on lap 5 of 28, costing the American the world championship lead he had held since round thr🐟ee in Turkey. The significance of the clash even caught the attention of mainstream media.

o The accident marked Hayden's only DNF of his titl﷽e 🤪winning season.

o Toni Elias took his first and so far only MotoGP win, and with it his first ever premier-class podium. The Spaniard began the last lap in third place, but💃 overtook both Rossi and Roberts into turn one. Rossi then got back in front, but Elias shot past him out of the final turn.

o Elias' victory remains the last time that a sat🔯ellite rider has won a MotoGP race. Elias, who was riding for Gresini Honda, looked set to lose his seat for 2007 until he took that win.

o The💧 next time a MotoGP race was🐼 won by a last lap pass was at Catalunya in 2009 - when Rossi was the winner.

o Second place at Estoril meant Rossi took the title lead for the first (and last) time during the entire 20🐬06 season, having been as far as 51 points behind Haꦆyden after round 11 of 17.

o Rossi l🏅ost the race by just 0.002sec to Elias and went on to lose the 2006 world championship by five points when he fell at the Valencia season finale⭕ - the same number of points he lost by finishing second to Elias at Estoril.

o Roberts Jr took third, marking the 22nd and final podium of his grand prix career and the last by Team Roberts, which withdrew🦋 at thꦫe end of 2007.

o Roberts Jr took the lead on the pe൲nultimate lap, having thought the race was over one lap early. Unlike Julian Simon at Catalunya 2009, Roberts kept on the throttle when he failed to see a chequered flag.

o KR JR's Estoril performance with the Honda-powered KR211V marked the last time a bike built by a privateer team has led a MotoGP race or taken a MotoGP podiu෴m.

o Cౠasey Stoner crashed on lap 2 of the race, bringing down factory Ducati rider Sete Gibernau. Gibernau hit the Australian's LCR Honda, causing th♛e Spaniard to once again injure his collarbone.

o That injury ruled Gibernau out of Valencia, where he was replaced by Troy Bayliss - who sensationally won the race. In a further twist, Stoner took Gibernau's Ducati seat forꦯ 2007 and won the world championship.

o Estoril marked Gibernau's last MotoGP start before he an🦋nounced his retirement. The Spaniard later made an ill-fated return with the G💦rupo Francisco Hernando team in 2009.

o Estoril 2006 saw the debut of the new Ilmor team, whose rider Garry McCoy was credited with 15th despite being classified four laps down after pitting with electrical probl🍒ems.

o The Australian and his X3 motorcycle therefore claimed the first ever MotoGP point for an 800cc machine,ཧ which officially replaced 990cc bikes from the following year.

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:CLICK HERE to read mahbx.com's full Estoril 2006 race report and see belo🎶w for more pictures from th🌞e race.