Newly-crowned world champion Jorge Lorenzo, of Spain, will be bidding to end his season in style by picking up a third straight title at the Grand Prix of Portugal in Estoril tomorrow.

The 23-year-old Yamaha rider achieved his first MotoGP success in Estoril in 2008 and last year blew his rivals away to successfully defend that title by more than six seconds on second-placed Casey Stoner, of Ducati.

Lorenzo claimed his first world MotoGP title earlier this month after finishing third in the Malaysian Grand Prix which team-mate Valentino Rossi won with a brilliant performance.

And Lorenzo, who has not won a race since the Czech Grand Prix this summer, would like nothing better than to win a race which for him “is a little like the Spanish Grand Prix” because of its proximity to his native country.

The battle will also be on for the runners-up spot in the standings this season between Australian Stoner, Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Italy’s Rossi.

Pedrosa has a 23-point lead on Stoner and 31 on Rossi with two races left.

Rossi, who will switch to Ducati next season, will for his part be trying to make up for last year’s disappointment in Estoril when he finished over 23 seconds behind Lorenzo and off the podium.

Rossi had up until then finished nine times on the Estoril podium, including five victories, in as many races.

“After Phillip Island (where he achieved his second win of the season) I hope that the weather will be milder at Estoril but the weather is so changeable here,” said the Italian of the circuit situated just 7km from the Atlantic.