Post by BADGER on Sept 4, 2006 23:12:29 GMT
One of the closest MotoGP World Championships in history heads into its final stage this weekend as the series heads out to Malaysia for the first of a five-race spell across three continents. Races at Sepang, Phillip Island (Australia), Motegi (Japan), Estoril (Portugal) and Valencia (Spain), will decide the destiny of a title which for the past five seasons has been lifted by Yamaha superstar Valentino Rossi. For the Italian to retain that honour he must turn around a 38-point deficit to current leader Nicky Hayden (Honda), although no fewer than nine riders still have the mathematical odds to take the title.
Rossi’s chances were given a huge boost at the last round three weeks ago in Brno, where a second place finish combined with ninth for Hayden saw the gap between the pair slashed by thirteen points. That race went down as the closest top-15 finish of all time in the sport, strengthening this season’s reputation as the toughest ever and highlighting the number of points to be won and lost over the remaining five events.
Brno also witnessed Rossi's 87th appearance on the podium in the premier class and another top-three finish in Malaysia would equal Giacomo Agostini’s tally of 88 – a record bettered only by Mick Doohan. Rossi has finished on the podium at Sepang for the last five years, including a memorable victory for Yamaha in 2004 and a title- clinching second place behind Loris Capirossi (Ducati) last season.
Colin Edwards says that his target for the remaining five races is to assist Rossi’s title quest in any way he can whilst turning a consistent run of points-scoring finishes into at least a string of podiums. Tenth place in the last round at Brno was the 33rd successive race at which he has scored points – a MotoGP record again bettered only by Doohan on 37 – but the Texan’s goal is a return to the potentially winning form he showed earlier in the season.