Set-up reports – Malaysia MotoGP

Yamaha: The Fiat Yamaha Team head straight from Australia to Malaysia this week as they contest the second Grand Prix in just seven days, with the penultimate race of the season set to take place at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in MotoGP at the ultra modern circuit, taking three victories from eight visits, and their strong record in Malaysia stretches back to the first ever race in the country back in 1991, when John Kocinski took 500cc honours at Shah Alam.

The most recent Malaysian Grand Prix was also won by Yamaha, with Valentino Rossi taking his fourth premier-class win at Sepang following a stunning battle with Loris Capirossi last season. Rossi is keen to repeat that performance this weekend as he aims to become the first MotoGP rider ever to score 100 career podiums in the class - his third place finish at Phillip Island last Sunday having taken his tally to an unsurpassed 99. Rossi's team-mate Colin Edwards is also targeting a return to the podium after a dry spell of eight races since his last top-three finish at Donington Park.

Sepang is one of the widest tracks on the calendar, measuring 16 metres across in some areas, and high track temperatures are always a factor in the tropical climate. With four major hairpins, and some fast and frequent changes of direction in its 5,542m layout, Sepang provides a stern workout for the entire bike set-up and its largely consistent, if demanding, climate makes it the ideal winter testing venue. However, after being completely resurfaced since preseason testing back in February, the teams will have to wait until first free practice on Friday morning to see how useful previous data will be for set-up this weekend.

Valentino Rossi :
Valentino Rossi's impressive career podium tally in MotoGP includes six from the past six seasons at Sepang, including those four victories. After extending his advantage over Dani Pedrosa in the battle for the important runner-up spot in the championship at the last round, the Italian is again targetting the top step of the podium as he aims to finish a difficult season on a high note.

"I did everything I could in Australia but we couldn't challenge Stoner so our target for the final two races is unchanged - to fight for the win," says Rossi. "Sepang is another of my favourite tracks and I've had some great races there. Last year's battle with Loris was especially memorable, and I would really like to have the chance to fight like that with my rivals again this year.

"We know that our bike generally goes well there and we have a lot of data from so much testing there, even if our bike has changed quite a bit from the start of the year when we were last there and the track has also, but hopefully we will be able to find a good package and be competitive. We have two races left and we are going to be doing everything we can to win them both so we can end the season in a good way." (Yamaha-racing.com)

Ducati: The Ducati MotoGP Team travels to Malaysia on the back of two unforgettable races, aiming to maintain the momentum all the way to the end of this historic season.

In Japan last month Casey Stoner wrapped up the factory's first MotoGP riders' crown while Loris Capirossi won the race. In Australia last weekend Stoner won the race, his ninth victory of the season, while Capirossi finished second to help secure the constructors' title for Ducati and the team's title for the Borgo-Panigale-based squad.

Livio SUppo, team director:
"We go to Malaysia in very good mood after two unforgettable races and we hope we can maintain our momentum at Sepang, where we've had some great results. Two years ago we scored our first double podium result there and last year Loris fought for victory until the last lap, so in theory it's a good track for us. We hope to score another podium because so far this season we have had a Ducati rider on every podium apart from Jerez. We are also aiming to keep Casey's points average - at the moment he is averaging 20.125 points per race which is an incredible performance."

Casey Stoner:
"I'm still trying just as hard to win races now that we've got the title, because every race is as important as the others to me, but being champion does make it different, it makes the racing more enjoyable because I can relax a bit more. I'm looking forward to Sepang - it's always been a pretty good circuit for me. I won there two years in a row on the 125 and 250 in 2004 and 2005. I think last year was my worst race there, so I'm looking forward to getting back to having a nice, strong event there. The circuit has got a bit of everything, there's some really good, nice flowing corners and there's some tight, dicky ones. There's a lot of long corners, so you spend a lot of time on the brakes and on the side of the tyres, so you need to be very confident in the front to push it into the corners. At the same time you also need that drive on the rear. But now with the recent resurfacing work we don't know what the track's going to hold." (Ducati.com)