The Fiat Yamaha rider, winner at Estoril, underwent surgery on his right arm less than a fortnight ago, then suffered a huge accident during Friday practice at Shanghai - fracturing his left ankle and badly bruising parts of his right leg - leaving him to contest Sunday's race with only one limb in full working order.
The day of Lorenzo's 21st birthday began with heavy rain, further complicating proceedings as the track dried steadily throughout the day, and he stalled on the line at the start of the formation lap!
Fortunately, Lorenzo's bike was restarted in time for him to line-up in fourth on the grid, but he had dropped all the way back to ninth by lap 4 of 22.
The reigning 250cc world champion then regrouped, found his rhythm, and climbed quickly forwards - taking fourth position from
Marco Melandri on lap 15 and eventually finishing 4.5secs clear of the factory Ducati rider.
Casey Stoner took the final podium position, 12secs in front of Lorenzo.
"Without a doubt, this result today is like a victory for me," declared Jorge. "On Friday I couldn't imagine being able to ride, then yesterday it was a little bit better and then finally today I was not able just to ride, but to be competitive and enjoy myself as well!
"I've ridden with a lot of pain in both legs but the staff of the Clinica Mobile made it possible for me to keep going, so I want to thank them. I lost a lot of places early on but in the second half of the race I found my rhythm and then step by step I started to move forwards; in fact I think I made more overtakes than in any race so far in this category!
"I stalled the engine on the start line for the warm-up lap, which was a scary moment, but luckily I was able to restart and it wasn't a problem. I want to say congratulations to Valentino for a great victory today as well, I think it's going to be an exciting year.
