Racing: Valentino close to touch down

MotoGP heads to Malaysia this weekend for the 16th round of the 2009 season, as Valentino Rossi sits within touching distance of securing a seventh premier class title.

A top-four ride for Valentino Rossi at Sepang would be enough for the Italian to be crowned the 2009 world champion.

"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'," said Rossi. "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 No. 1 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."

Second place behind an impressive Casey Stoner at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix extended Rossi's lead at the top of the title standings to 38pts, thanks in large part to title rival and Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo's first-lap crash at Phillip Island.

The Spaniard's inability to complete the race means that even if he wins at Sepang, Rossi only needs to finish fourth to take his ninth world title across all classes. Lorenzo is the only rider who can stop Rossi from taking the title in Malaysia, and it's a place where, in his rookie season last year, Lorenzo retired after crashing. A win in 250cc is his best result there.

Rossi has a rich history of good form at Sepang, where he won from second on the grid last year and has seven podium finishes in the premier class in total, including five wins.

Ducati Marlboro man Stoner overtook Dani Pedrosa in the standings with his third victory in as many years on his home track, and the Australian is back to full fitness after his three-race break. Last year saw the 24 year-old place sixth at Sepang, but in his title-winning 2007 season Stoner won in Malaysia, so has pedigree there.

"In the past I used to like racing in the heat but last year in Malaysia I was racing with a wrist injury and I've had the physical problems everybody knows about so I suppose it's a combination of factors that I have suffered with in recent hot races," said Stoner. "But at Phillip Island things went so well from a physical point of view that I feel reasonably confident.

"It will definitely be a tough race as being fast and consistent in those conditions is always difficult regardless. It is not easy to find the perfect set-up here, but that's always been the case and with every day that passes I feel stronger and more confident that I can be competitive in both of the two races that remain.

"The track has become a little… boring for me I suppose you could say - just because we have done so many laps here in testing - but the races are usually fun and I like the place. It has a kind of holiday feel to it and it puts you in a good mood."

Pedrosa is six adrift of Stoner in fourth place in the championship, but his impressive record of always finishing on the podium at Sepang - he placed second last year - means he should be amongst the frontrunners as well, having finished third in his last three races this season.

Pedrosa's Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso made the podium in Malaysia in his debut MotoGP season last year and will hope to improve on his sixth place in Australia, while hot on his heels in the championship is Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Colin Edwards - the Texan has never finished in the top three at Sepang.

The points spread from seventh to tenth in the championship standings between Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) is just one, as the battle for seventh place intensifies.

Australian Chris Vermeulen will compete in his second last race for Suzuki at Sepang.

"I'm looking forward to getting to Sepang and putting last weekend behind us," said the Queenslander. "It's a circuit we all know very well because we do a lot of testing there. It's going to be very hot and humid -- a lot different to Phillip Island -- and the GSV-R has performed well there in the past so that's what we'll be looking to aim for. We have a good base setting so hopefully it will work out for us and we can be competitive from the start."

There will be live coverage form 2.30pm Sunday on Fox Sports 3.