Photography by Gold & Goose
As the elder statesman in the series, Valentino Rossi comes into the Malaysian round of the MotoGP World Championship with 13 races under his belt at the Sepang Circuit. And six of those 13 starts have resulted in victories. Needless to say, Sepang is one of Rossi’s favorite circuits and he arrives at the GP red-hot after winning last week at the circuit he enjoys the most – Phillip Island. If he needs any more motivation than that, he’s also in an intra-team battle with Jorge Lorenzo for second in the championship.
“I like a lot Sepang,” Rossi said in the pre-race press conference today. “It is one of my favorite tracks. I think the bigger problem is the temperature because it will be very, very hot during the weekend, as always, and I think it is the most difficult race for the riders. With this temperature, physically you are at the limit and you have to be fit to keep the power and also to keep the concentration. But the for the layout, it is a great track. I race here from the first year in ’99 and for sure it is a track where I ride more the bike because always we test here from 2000. I have a lot, a lot of kilometers here but is always a great emotion because it is a very technical track – fast, wide and is very suitable for the power of MotoGP.”
Rossi also reflected on his last few races, the Italian having won two of the last four rounds in Misano and Australia. The last four races have also been a coup for Yamaha with Lorenzo winning the other two GPs in that four-race span to put at least a temporary halt to the runaway season turned in by Marc Marquez.
“For me it was a good season from the beginning,” Rossi said. “Because I did good races also in the first part, but it looks like in the last four races Yamaha won – two me and two Jorge. Also for the mistake of Marc [Marquez], but it looks like we are closer to the Hondas so it is possible to try more, a harder fight. We are very happy and I am happy personally because my second victory of the season is very important and especially to try and arrive second in the championship. It will be a hard fight with [Dani] Pedrosa, but especially with Jorge because we are close. It is important to try and do the maximum to achieve this result.”
Rossi’s races in Malaysia date back to when the race was held at Shah Alam (for seven years, starting in 1991). In fact, Rossi’s MotoGP (then 500cc) debut came there in 1996.
“Was my debut in World Championship at Shah Alam in ’96,” Rossi said. “Was a great track, apart from the snakes in the run-off area, it was good. I like a lot and I finish sixth in my first race and it was great. I did also the victory in ’97. Was also very hot there and it was a good track, but I prefer Sepang.”
