MotoGP takes in two continents in as many weeks as the 2007 season draws to a close, moving from Australasia to Asia for the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix on October 21st. The penultimate round of the year, which takes place at the Sepang Circuit close to Kuala Lumpur, sees the riders and teams preparing for a final push for pride, points and positions in the MotoGP World Championship. With the individual, team and constructors title already in the bag for Casey Stoner and Ducati, the main interest in the MotoGP class lies in whether the Australian can add to his win tally, and to whom will take second place in the premier class. Valentino Rossi currently holds a 29 point advantage over Dani Pedrosa with 50 still up for grabs, heading to a track where both riders were on the podium last season. Rossi was the victor of the 2006 race, and he has only finished lower than second at Sepang on one occasion in his MotoGP career. He won the race at Malaysia in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006, and another triumph would ensure that he at least earned some consolation for his efforts this year. Behind Rossi and Pedrosa, a battle between team-mates rages for fourth in the championship. Suzuki’s John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen have been virtually inseparable over the course of the season, and are split by only five points in their battle to be the top finisher in their internal duel. A dip in form from both riders has seen Marco Melandri and Loris Capirossi get back amongst the contenders for fourth, and the quartet are now within just fifteen points of each other. The remainder of the top ten consists of Colin Edwards, 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, and Brazilian veteran Alex Barros. On 12pm on Saturday afternoon, an announcement will also be made regarding the recent control tyre proposal made by Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta. The deadline for the decision taken by the Grand Prix Commission consisting of Dorna, IRTA, the MSMA and the FIM will have arrived, and the much rumoured tyre situation for 2008 will become clearer for all involved. 250cc In 250cc, Jorge Lorenzo seems almost certain to clinch his second quarter litre World Championship at Sepang, with a gap of 45 points between himself and Andrea Dovizioso nearly insurmountable for the Italian barring a disaster for Lorenzo. The Spaniard heads to Malaysia after a superb race at Phillip Island, where he stretched out a near 20-second gap between himself and his nearest rival for the win. The Fortuna Aprilia rider won the race at Malaysia last year, and will be wanting to claim the title in style and provide one of his trademark “Lorenshows” for the crowd. Dovizioso has battled valiantly throughout the season, and has upheld his part of the bargain in prolonging the battle for 250cc glory until the final stages of the season. He holds a 27 point lead over Alex de Angelis, who currently lies in third place in the classification, and still has plenty of motivation as his 250cc career draws to a close and the trio make the jump to MotoGP. Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera and Hiroshi Aoyama complete the top six in the quarter litre category. 125cc Just one point separates the leading two in 125cc, with team-mates Gabor Talmacsi and Hector Faubel set to go down to the wire in the battle for supremacy. The Bancaja Aspar twosome are the only riders with a chance of lifting the title in 2007, and have edged the other out for pole positions and victories right from the opening race in Qatar. Talmacsi has never finished a race at Sepang on the podium, whilst Faubel finally broke his duck at Malaysia last season with a third place. Two less than ideal results for Tomoyoshi Koyama mean that the Japanese rider has now been definitively eliminated from the fight for the 2007 crown, and he must now set his sights on maintaining his third place in the standings. Thirteen points separate the Red Bull KTM man from Phillip Island race winner Lukas Pesek, Skilled Racing’s Simone Corsi and the luckless Mattia Pasini in the top six. Circuit Info The Sepang International Circuit is a 4448m long track constructed in just 14 months to hold its first Grand Prix back in 1999. Four slow corners follow two long straights and ten medium to high speed corners at a wide track made for overtaking, and one of the longest laps in MotoGP is made all the more gruelling by Sepang’s tendency for intense heat and humidity. The circuit is located 50km south of Kuala Lumpur city.