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Marco Simoncelli won the 250cc Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril while Mike Di Meglio recorded the same time as Hector Barbera but inched past him at the finish line for second.

Hiroshi Aoyama extended his World Championship lead with a fourth-place finish as Alvaro Baustista crashed out from the lead five laps in to disappoint his legions of fans in the stands.

Jules Cluzel took fifth after a battle with Ratthapark Wilairot, with the Thai overtaking the Frenchman 10 laps from the end only to give the place back up - and he was held off until the chequered flag.

Di Meglio and Barbera's fight was a monstrous one, with multiple exchanges of second spot after Raffaele De Rosa crashed out from there six laps into the 26-lap race.

Gilera's Simoncelli had recently come through to take the lead after fighting back from a poor start while third on the grid; at one stage he was sixth.

Pepe World Aprilia rider Barbera moved past French Aspar Aprilia man Di Meglio with two laps left and seemed set to make it stick heading on to the final straight; however despite its short nature Di Meglio managed to moved out and alongside.

The official timing originally gave second to Barbera, and he stood on that step on the podium, but the official investigation had concluded that Di Meglio had just enough bite - although they registered exactly the same time.

Thomas Locatelli was another crash victim from seventh position on lap eight.

Thomas Luthi, Mattia Pasini, Alex Debon who held second place early on - and Karel Abraham filled the top 10 positions.

Highlights of all three races at Estoril at 7pmon British Eurosport 2 (Sky 411 / Virgin Media 525); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport