Who's #1...

SEPANG, Oct 22 — Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi can finish in any of the top four positions at this weekend’s race at the Sepang Circuit to lift his seventh MotoGP World Championship title.

Rossi has arrived here with a 38-point advantage over his team-mate and closest title rival Jorge Lorenzo who collected 232 points.

However, Rossi would not want to be complacent with his current position.

“After Jorge’s mistake at Phillip Island (Australian Grand Prix) we have a good advantage. But we have to treat this like a normal race, especially from the practice session because I like this track a lot and have had great results in races here in the past.

“I was happy that our team worked well last weekend and my bike went well in the race, and now my main target is to reach Sunday with a good setting. We spent a lot of time during the winter at this track, so we have a lot of data,” said Rossi in a pre-event press conference at the circuit today.

Also at the press conference were Aleix Espargaro, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and the 2009 125cc World Champion Julian Simon.

Rossi has a history of good form in the punishing heat of Malaysia, where he won from second on the grid last year and has seven podium finishes here in all, including five wins.

Meanwhile, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, Stoner, noted that the Malaysian leg would definitely be a tough race as it was in the previous year.

“It is not easy to find the perfect set-up here. But the last two races were fantastic for us; it was the right way to come back. In Portugal, we had a great race and then at Phillip Island we topped it off. Things are so much better now. Everything seems to work well, so we are really looking forward to this weekend now.

“It has been a long time since I looked forward to racing so much, because it was really hard when I wasn’t competitive before the break,” said the 24-year-old Stoner.

On the other hand, Pedrosa, who is riding for the Repsol Honda Team, has good memories of the Sepang Circuit.

He had finished on the podium in the past three seasons and had tasted victory in both the 125cc and 250cc World Championship classes but has yet to win the premier class at the circuit.

“I have won the 125cc and 250cc classes here and I am missing the MotoGP win here. I think everybody should be ready for this weekend. We will just try to do our best in practice and the best we can in the race,” said Pedrosa.

Currently, Pedrosa is trailing the leader by 189 points in fourth position and only six points separate him from Stoner.

Tomorrow, all riders will start off with the free practice session and the race would be held in three days time.