Veteran
Loris Capirossi is another rider with an impressive record both in Malaysia and Sepang. The Rizla Suzuki rider has both 250 and
MotoGP wins in Sepang, finished on the podium on two other occasions and started on the front row five times including two poles.
Capirossi also won the very first 125cc grand prix in Malaysia, in 1991 at Shah Alam. He is tenth in the championship but only 16 points behind team-mate Vermeulen in eighth place. They will be joined in the race on Sunday by Suzuki test rider Nobuatsu Aoki who won the 250cc race at Shah Alam 15 years ago.
Shinya Nakano makes his penultimate appearance for the San Carlo Gresini Honda team at the track where he won the 250cc race eight years ago and in great form after finishing an impressive fifth in Australia. He will be replaced by
Toni Elias next season who won the 250cc race at Sepang five years ago and who will complete his contract with the Alice Ducati team at Valencia the following week.
Frenchman
Sylvain Guintoli is in a similar position with the Alice team while Australian
Anthony West has two more rides with
John Hopkins at Kawasaki before being replaced by
Marco Melandri next season.
After failing to score double digit points at the last seven rounds, Edwards is rumoured to have been told by Yamaha to up his game, but rookie team-mate
James Toseland arrives at Sepang fresh from a breakthrough performance at the Australian GP.
The Yorkshireman celebrated his 28th birthday with a thrilling sixth place at Phillip Island - swapping positions with Rossi in the process - and has been working flat on his stamina to produce a repeat performance or better in very different circumstances at the penultimate round of the championship.
21-year-old Italian Marco Simoncelli is on the verge of clinching the 250cc world title in Sepang after a breathtaking victory in Australia. The Metis Gilera rider holds a 37 point lead over his great rival Alvaro Bautista with just two rounds remaining.
