Valentino Rossi will be angling for his 100th podium in the senior MotoGP class as the 2007 edges ever nearer to its climax at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.
With just one round to run after the Sepang event, the Italian will look to take something from a season that has seen him beaten to the riders' title for the second year in a row, and is optimistic that Malaysia will again be fruitful for the Fiat Yamaha Team. Yamaha is the most successful MotoGP manufacturer when it comes to results at the Sepang circuit, taking three victories from eight visits, while the marque's record of success stretches back to the first ever race in Malaysia, when John Kocinski took 500cc honours at Shah Alam in 1991.
The most recent Malaysian Grand Prix was also won by Yamaha, with Rossi taking his fourth premier class win at Sepang after a stunning battle with Loris Capirossi, and the Italian will look to reach his landmark century in the best possible fashion this weekend.
"I did everything I could in Australia, but we couldn't challenge Casey Stoner," he admitted after racking up podium number 99 in third place, "However, our target for the final two races is unchanged - to fight for the win. Sepang is another of my favourite tracks and I've had some great races there. Last year's battle with Loris was especially memorable, and I would really like to have the chance to fight like that with my rivals again this year."
Rossi extended his points advantage over Dani Pedrosa in the battle for the runners-up spot behind Stoner and is hopeful that the YZR-M1 can live up to the form it showed in pre-season testing at Sepang.
“We know that our bike generally goes well there, and we have a lot of data from so much testing there, even if our bike has changed quite a bit from the start of the year," he mused, "The track has also changed but, hopefully, we will be able to find a good package and be competitive. We have two races left and we are going to be doing everything we can to win them both so we can end the season in a good way."
