A crash of the championship leader, a battle for the title that was reopening, a legendary last lap and above all the smallest difference between the top two in MotoGP history: it happened on October 15, 2006, exactly 15 years ago. years, when Toni Elías achieved his only win in the premier class at the end of a career that will always be remembered.
He was only 13th in the championship when he arrived at Estoril, so Elías was not the favorite and all eyes were on the two main rivals for the world crown: Nicky Hayden, the most consistent driver and leader of the championship since the Barcelona event , just before the start of the summer, and Valentino Rossi, who accumulated podium finishes, recovering race after race from the points lost in the complicated first part of the 2006 World Championship.
Starting from pole, Rossi held the lead at the start, while Elías was only eighth at the start of the race. The Catalan quickly advanced to fifth position, taking advantage of an overtake on Loris Capirossi and an accident involving Casey Stoner and Sete Gibernau, who could not dodge the Australian’s Ducati . As Rossi created a small gap at the front of the pack, Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa repeatedly traded for the top positions behind the Italian.
On the fourth lap, Pedrosa tried to overtake Hayden but lost control of his bike and took out his teammate. Hayden, furious to see how the title was going away, hit the gravel with his fist showing his anger and meanwhile, Elías continues his march forward. The Gresini team driver, now third, caught up with Edwards, but the Texan held his own. The two were more than a second behind a Rossi who had had no real rival from the start.
(Enjoy these photos of that race before reading on, or at the end)
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Elías and Edwards traded second position several times midway through the race, allowing the then five-time world champion in the premier class to build a lead of nearly two seconds. Elías finally took advantage of his strong pace and approached Rossi, only to overtake him in the first corner with seven laps to go, thanks to a lot of hard braking. A group then formed in the lead, with Elías ahead of Rossi, Edwards and Kenny Roberts Jr.
The race leader scrambled and was forced to go wide under braking, allowing Rossi to get back in front and the #24 was also unable to keep back a Roberts who had already accounted for Edwards a few corners earlier. The 2000 world champion continued his comeback and, two laps from the finish, overtook Rossi to be first.
At the start of the final lap, Roberts was leading on his family’s team bike, with Rossi and Elias behind. There, the Spaniard with the red Honda and the Fortuna stickers, began the best tour of his life. Rossi tried to overtake Roberts in vain, but for the second time in the race Elías managed to brake very late in the first corner, which made him go from third to first place.
Rossi quickly got rid of Roberts and regained the lead over Elías at the chicane. The Italian started the final stretch first, but the Spaniard did not give up and the two men crossed the finish line together.
The stopwatch spoke: the photo finish victory was for Elías by only 0.002 seconds. Unheard of in MotoGP, while in 500cc the only identical difference since the introduction of electronic timing was Alex Crivillé ‘s win ten years earlier in Brno over Mick Doohan . In fact, Crivillé was there, in the Parc Fermé of the Estoril circuit, to congratulate Elías.
Out of breath at the press conference, to the point that Rossi humorously decided to dry his sweat, Elías spoke of a “difficult” Grand Prix and acknowledged that he was still “very nervous”.
“It’s an incredible moment for me,” he commented, explaining that he first believed in the podium, and then in victory. “I saw that Valentino had more or less the same pace as me. Kenny was moving fast. I saw an opportunity, and I did my best. When I saw the opportunity, I gave more than 100% and it’s an incredible moment, I can’t believe it. who won this race.”
That victory for Elías allowed Hayden to limit damage and stay just eight points behind Rossi before the final in Valencia. Anger gave way to frustration, still visible on his face, and the Kentucky Kid humorously confessed how he experienced the end of that career. “I was cheering on Elias and Edwards at the motorhome,” Hayden revealed to reporters. “I swear, I cheered him on even more than his parents!”
The story after that is known to all: Rossi crashed in Valencia and Hayden won his only MotoGP title. Then it would be ten years before Jack Miller at Assen scored the next win for a satellite team driver. As for Elías, he never again enjoyed the taste of victory in MotoGP, but later became the first Moto2 champion and added a MotoAmerica title to his list, a category in which he continues to race today.
Look at the photos of the celebration of the 2006 MotoGP Portuguese GP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
