“Match Point” for Rossi at Motegi
Added on Friday, September 26th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
“Match Point” for Rossi at Motegi
Valentino Rossi could be crowned MotoGP champion this weekend at the home Grand Prix of his Yamaha team.
The Italian heads to Japan this weekend with an 87-point lead over second-placed Casey Stoner and needs just a third place finish, regardless of what Stoner achieves, to secure his fifth premier class victory and end a three-year trophy drought.
The win will also see Rossi close the gap on Giacomo Agostini’s record of eight premier class wins – the only man to have won the championship more than Rossi.
Rossi is currently on a four-race winning streak after taking the chequered flags at Laguna Seca, Brno, Misano and Indianapolis and a fifth victory is what the 29-year-old is eyeing as the perfect way to repay his Yamaha team.
“So, we have had a fantastic run of race and now here we are finally, with a ‘match point’ for the championship, and in Motegi once again!
“In 2005 I was in the same situation but I crashed and had to wait for Malaysia to win the title, and then last year we lost the championship in Japan.
“I really would like to win in Motegi, especially as it’s such an important race for Yamaha and it would be a great reward for them for all of the work they have done. However, we cannot put too much pressure on ourselves and I will try to treat it like another normal race.
“We have a good margin of points, but there are still four more races so it is still not over! Everyone is very relaxed and focused, my Bridgestone tyres and my M1 are working very well and hopefully we can have another great weekend in Motegi.”
