BIAGGI AIMS TO PROLONG ROSSI’S TITLE QUEST Honda’s MotoGP men will be going flat out to finish the remaining five races of the season with a flourish this weekend ­ and while it’s still mathematically possible for Max Biaggi (Repsol Honda RC211V) to rob Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) of the 2006 MotoGP World Crown, the Roman will be as keen as ever to win. Rossi needs a fourth place, or higher, to garner enough points to put the title out of reach of his challengers. Max would have to win the remaining five races, with Rossi failing to finish, to outscore his bitter rival ­but Rossi proved at Motegi that he is as fallible as any other rider when it comes to making costly mistakes. He ended his race, and that of Marco Melandri (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) when he clipped the Honda rider’s rear wheel, bringing them both down. Max will need no encouragement to deny Rossi glory at Sepang, and after a lacklustre season so far, Max is getting closer to recording his first win of the season. Max was second here last year, but won here in 2002 and will be determined to notch a win here again on Sunday. His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC211V) is another man who must build on his solitary career win so far, at his home race at Laguna Seca, USA this season. The young American currently lies fifth overall in the points table and needs a strong finish to the season. Melandri led much of the Motegi race last weekend until he was involved in that crash with Rossi. The Italian Honda star will be keen to take back some ground in the World Championship standings here if he can. He lay second for much of the season and knows he will need a maiden career win to steal back some points from current runner-up Biaggi. Sete Gibernau (Team Movistar Honda RC211V) could only finish seventh here last year and the Spanish man, who has been World Championship runner-up for the last two seasons will be anxious to end his season with a win after failing finish three of the last four races. Alex Barros (Camel Honda RC211V), one of the few men to have won a race this season, triumphed in Portugal, and will be anxious to record another win in the twilight of his distinguished career. But he has never tasted success yet here at Sepang. Shane Byrne, standing in for the injured Troy Bayliss (Camel Honda RC211V), has a golden opportunity to relaunch his stalled MotoGP career at Sepang, having been discarded when his previous employers (Team Roberts) announced they would not be completing the remaining races of the season after a dispute with their engine suppliers. Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V) rode hard for his third place at Motegi and, as ever, the spirited Japanese rider will be going flat out to finish his season with a flourish after injury deprived him of much of his strength for the first half of the season. Max Biaggi said, “I’m looking forward to the next race. I finished third in Brno and second at Motegi. It would be so good to go one better in Malaysia and win the race here. The track is very fast and is both physically and technically hard work. The spectators are fantastic as well, because they come from all over Asia. That’s what I’d call a continental Grand Prix. Our Michelins worked so well in Japan ­ so much side grip it was fantastic.” His team-mate Nicky Hayden said, “I always say that when we have a bad race weekend all I want to do is to get back on the bike and I’m happy we’re going straight to Malaysia. We need to get on the pace fast something that we just didn’t manage to do in Japan. I’ve made many laps on this circuit because we’ve spent several days testing here I the past. Grip is very important because the track temperature increases a lot in the afternoon.” Marco Melandri, who plans to race despite sustaining a deep cut to the sole of his right foot in the crash at Motegi, said, “On Monday I flew to Kuala Lumpur. Luckily the wound doesn’t hurt too much. This morning the doctor took out the small drainage system and told me that the wound is recovering correctly. According to him I can start walking on it a little bit. I’m feeling fine and I want to go steadily to start with and race on Sunday.” Sete Gibernau said, “I hope that things will go better in Sepang, they can’t be any worse than they were in Japan. We are motivated as always to do well, but I don’t remember having such a bad season as this current one. I hope that this situation turns positively and I look forward to scoring my first win of the season.” “Sepang is one of the most physically challenging circuits on the calendar,” said Alex Barros. “The heat and humidity are incredible for both the riders and the bike. Sometimes the engine gets so hot that it burns your hands and feet! Such extreme conditions are also a tough test for the tyres, as well as the engine and the suspension, but we had some really good tests here in pre-season and we already have a good base set-up to start from. I want to have a good race so that I can recover some points in the Championship.” Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne said, “To ride one of the Camel Honda team’s bikes is a massive opportunity which makes me very proud indeed, and I will give everything to show my true potential. I met up with the team on Tuesday in Sepang ­ a track I know quite well after having tested there a few times. I haven’t ever ridden in Qatar so I’ll have to try and get a good feel for that track early on there.” Makoto Tamada said, “Motegi was an improvement, but I still need to be at the front of the race, fighting for the win. I owe it to the team to do well here at Sepang and I will make every effort to bring a good result.” In the 250cc class Dani Pedrosa (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) closes in on his second consecutive 250cc World title before stepping up to the MotoGP class for 2007 with his Honda, his long-time employers. The Spanish superstar cannot quite clinch the title here but if his nearest challenger Casey Stoner (Aprilia) fails to finish, Dani’s current 63 point lead should be enough to see him home in Qatar, or, more likely, Australia. Consistency has been the watchword for Dani this season (as ever) and he shows no signs of flagging in his bid to wrap up the title sooner rather than later. Dani’s team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama (Team Movistar Honda RS250RW) will be buoyed by his storming win at his ‘home’ race at Motegi last weekend and the Japanese rider and he will be anxious to keep his momentum going to climb higher up the World Championship table, in which he currently lies fourth overall. Dani, who is stiff and sore after crashing three times during qualifying at Motegi, said, “I hope to have a quieter weekend than in Japan, which won’t be hard! The shoulder is getting gradually better, I’m applying ice to reduce the inflammation and these few days will be good for me to rest and recuperate. The only thing I’m concerned about now is to be as fit as possible on Friday to be able to start working hard from the first session.” His team-mate Hiro said, “We enjoyed the victory at Motegi. On Sunday night we had a really nice meal with all my family and friends and it was fun. I think I needed that win to convince myself that I can be up there in every race. I hope to be up front again in Malaysia from the start because I know the victory in Japan wasn’t a coincidence ­ it was the result of the hard work we’ve been doing all season.” Jorge Lorenzo (Fortuna Honda RS250RW) will not race here after being suspended for one race as punishment for his last lap clash with Alex de Angelis at Motegi. Andrea Dovizioso (Scot Racing Team Honda RS250RW) said, “I don’t like Malaysia because I had never raced really well there or had a good result, until last year,” said Dovi. “But we will go into the race intending to win, as always. We had a problem with the bike at Motegi but I have every confidence in the team and we will start practice in better condition than we finished Motegi.” In the 125cc category, Thomas Luthi (Elit Grand Prix Honda RS125R) still holds a slender World Championship lead over his rival Mika Kallio (KTM) despite crashing at Motegi. He fell while lying second to Kallio but the race was stopped and he retained 20 points for his efforts because the places on the previous lap were counted ­ as is the procedure. His three-point lead is precarious. He injured a shoulder and both ankles in the crash and he will have to pass a medical before riding on Sunday, but the young Swiss is showing he can handle the pressure of a 17-race season with a World title on the line. Luthi said, “I’m very sore at the moment but just hope to race and take some points out of the race. I really hope I ca race because I like Sepang, it has some fast corners I like and my bike will be very good at that track.” Alvaro Bautista (Seedorf Racing Honda RS125RW) said, “We’ve got the bike running really good now and I’m looking forward to Sepang where I hope to make up for the disappointment of Motegi, where I could have fought for a podium place in the closing laps if I had not been held up so badly by slower riders. I finished third at Sepang last year and hope to be on the podium again this time.”