MotoGP preview: Rd17, Sepang, Malaysia, October 23-25

With the buzz of an extraordinary Australian Grand Prix having barely subsided — multiple re-runs of the epic race will surely be on the cards this week — the riders are now reconvening at Sepang for the penultimate round of the 2015 MotoGP world title.

The championship could not be on more of a knife-edge either, with Valentino Rossi now just an 11pt leader over Movistar Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo with just two rounds remaining.

Lorenzo's second place in Australia behind world champion Marx Marquez (Repsol Honda) allowed him to trim 7pts off Rossi's lead, with the Italian making a rare beeline straight back to his pit box and not the podium after his fourth place finish behind Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team).

However, in a race where there were a phenomenal 52 changes of position between the top four riders, Rossi was far from disgraced, and he lobs at a hot and humid Sepang as the most successful rider at the venue with a total of six wins, including five in the MotoGP era. However, his last win was back in 2010.

In 2014, Marquez was the winner at Sepang ahead of Rossi, with Lorenzo completing the podium. The same result in 2015 would see Rossi take a 15pt lead into the final round at Valencia — and there is also a chance that Rossi could be crowned world champion at Sepang if he can score 15pts more than Lorenzo. This would happen if Rossi won and Lorenzo was sixth or lower, or if Rossi came second and Lorenzo finished outside the top 10. Rossi could also afford to finish third if Lorenzo failed to finish in the top 14.

Those permutations are unlikely to play out given Lorenzo's rich vein of form, but what can be factored in is that Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and Iannone are likely to be battling up the front — the former as a two-time MotoGP winner at the circuit, and Iannone after his breakout keeping-up-with-the-big-guns performance in Australia.

"There are only two races for the championship left and it will be important not to make any mistakes," said Rossi. "In Australia we had a good race but it could have been much better. In Malaysia we have to immediately find a good set up.

"Each session will be important, not just the race itself. The race at Sepang is worth a lot and we have to get the best result in each session and then win. We arrive at the last race of this triple transfer with a good lead, and this is definitely positive. Now just we need two good races to finish this successful season off. I'm feeling fine, I'm in good shape and me and the guys of the team are ready to do our best."

And Lorenzo's take: "First of all I would like to congratulate all the Yamaha family after achieving the second title of the season in Australia. I'm very proud of all the team members and the engineers who made this possible by working really hard in Japan during the whole season.

"Phillip Island was an extremely exciting race and the results finally weren't too bad considering our main rival finished fourth. Now we face the Sepang race, a complicated racetrack because of the extremely hot temperatures and humidity.

"I think there the key to fight for the victory will be the tyre performance and I think we're in with a shot for the win again. The main goal is to cut some more points from Valentino's margin and I will try to arrive to Valencia with a smaller disadvantage. I feel strong and look forward to racing in Malaysia."

While the Yamaha intra-team battle continues, there's no doubt that Marquez is the favourite to make it successive wins at Sepang. Not only is he the lap record and best lap holder, but his ability to pull miraculous laps out of thin air — like the jaw-dropping final circuit in Australia — is beyond reproach.

Marquez is currently third in the standings on 222pts, from Iannone (188), Pedrosa (161) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech 3, 158).

As the most utilised testing track on the MotoGP calendar, most riders should hit the ground running at Sepang from FP1 on Friday morning. For Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) it will be a chance to return to peak form (Ducati's last win was with Casey Stoner in 2009), while Spaniard Maverick Vinales (Ecstar Suzuki) will be looking to continue the form that saw him equal his best result (sixth) of his rookie MotoGP season in Australia. Vinales also won last year's Moto2 race a Sepang.

Smith holds an insurmountable lead over LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow in the battle of the satellite riders with only two races left, while In the open class it's Avintia Racing’s Hector Barbera who still leads the way from Forward Racing’s Loris Baz, while Aussie Jack Miller (LCR Honda) has moved up to third. Miller claimed the open victory at Phillip Island.

Queenslander Anthony West (Cardion AB Motoracing Honda) will also continue to fill in for the injured Karel Abraham at Sepang in the MotoGP ranks, the same role that Josh Hook is performing for injured Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter in the Technomag Interwetten Moto2 squad for the final time.  

The Moto3 class is yet to be decided either after a dramatic Phillip Island race that saw Portugal's Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) win from Efren Vazquez (Leopard Racing Honda) and teammate Brad Binder, while championship leader Danny Kent (Leopard Racing Honda) was left to lick his wounds after crashing in an incident that also involved his main championship rival Enea Bastianini (Gresini Honda) and Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold Honda).

Bastianini was the innocent party — and to add insult to injury his championship aspirations also evaporated in one fell swoop.

Kent is on 244pts with two rounds remaining, still a clear championship favourite, while Oliveira is on 204. A maximum of 50pts are available in the final two rounds.

Vazquez won the Moto3 race in Malaysia last year.

Australia's Remy Gardner (CIP Mahindra) finally scored first Moto3 points for the year at Phillip Island after a superb ride, and returns to a circuit where he performed strongly as a wildcard in 2014.

In Moto2, Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) is already the champion, but he wasn't at his free-running best in Australia as Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) continued a brilliant rookie season with a dominant win. With Tito Rabat (EG Marc VDS) set to miss another round with injury, Rins nearly has second position in the title sewn up, while Sam Lowes (Speed Up Racing) look set to finish fourth.

Rins was third in the 2014 Moto3 race at Sepang, whole Zarco was fourth in Moto2.

The three world championship races at Sepang will be held over the following distances and times:

•    MotoGP: 20 laps, 110.9km, starting at 3:00pm local time (6:00pm AST)
•    Moto2: 19 laps, 105.3km, starting a 1:20pm local time (4:20pm AST)
•    Moto3: 18 laps, 99.8km, starting at 12:00pm local time (3:00pm AST)