Well, technically he can, but he needs to maintain a 25 point buffer between him and Lorenzo after Sepang.

Rossi’s second place last Sunday in Australia meant that he now holds a 38-point lead over Lorenzo and he will win the title simply by keeping a buffer of 25 points between him and his rival after this weekend.

Thousands of kilometres of testing at the Kuala Lumpur track mean that most riders have the advantage of local knowledge, but Rossi has an impressive five Sepang victories to his name, including last year when he took a resounding victory fresh from wrapping up the title in Japan. In 2005, second place at the track was enough to secure the Italian his second title for Yamaha and he will be determined to do the same this weekend and avoid a final-race showdown with his team-mate for his seventh premier-class title.

A difficult weekend for Lorenzo at Phillip Island ended in the gravel trap at turn one and the Mallorcan is happy to have the chance to put it behind him so quickly. He escaped with just a few cuts and bruises and, with the championship now all by out of reach, the youngster is simply focusing on a good finish to a brilliant championship and on confirming the number two spot in the standings. The 22-year-old crashed out on lap 12 of the race last year but he nonetheless has a good past record at Sepang, having won there in 2006 and clinched his second 250cc title there in 2007.

Valentino Rossi – “Match point”
“Phillip Island was like gold dust for us in terms of points and now we go to Malaysia, another of my favourite tracks, with our first ‘match point’. Of course anything can happen but it’s a great track for me and generally the Yamaha works well there so we have a good chance. We worked brilliantly in Australia and we know that if we can do the same at Sepang then we can have another good weekend. There is no chance to relax – everyone is focused, motivated and excited now that we are at this stage and our number one target for the weekend is to try to close out the championship. We will do our best and see where we are on Sunday night.”

Jorge Lorenzo – “Looking to achieve our target”
“After the disappointment in Australia I am glad to have the chance to be back on the bike so soon. I am not hurt and I will be in good shape to race. We don’t think about the championship now; my target is to confirm the second place in the championship and, in just my second season in MotoGP, I think that this is a great achievement and I will be happy if I can do it. I like Sepang a lot, I know it well from testing and I have some great memories, especially in 2007 when I took the 250 title there. This time my team and I will just be focused on having a good weekend and getting as many points as we can in order to achieve our target.”

Davide Brivio – “An exciting weekend for everyone”
“We’re almost at the end of the championship and Sepang could be the most important race of the year for us. Even though it comes just a few days after Phillip Island we will be back to full concentration and putting our heads down at the circuit from Wednesday. The aim of course is to do the best we can and hopefully secure the title; we have a 38-point lead but we will have the same tactic as in Australia – one eye on the title and one eye on trying to win the race if possible. It’s going to be an exciting weekend for everyone.”

Daniele Romagnoli
“The first priority for Malaysia is just to be back on the track and in good shape after what happened in Australia. We did some good testing in Sepang last winter and we know that we’re capable of being back in the race there, and this is the main target for everyone. We have two races left and our target is to confirm second place for Jorge and just do the maximum we can in these two important races to finish a great championship in the best way.”

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