This weekend gives Marquez (Repsol Honda) another chance to register a 12th victory of the season, which would equal Mick Doohan’s record from 1997 for most premier class wins in a single season. The visit to Sepang also provides Marquez with an opportunity to put Sunday’s Phillip Island race out of his mind after he crashed out when leading in Australia. Marquez commented: “It is time to try and be on the top again as I have not won since Silverstone. We will try to be ready to fight for victory on Sunday if it is dry, if it is wet we will see. It will be difficult because everyone has a lot of testing experience from this track.”
He continued, “I was trying to ride a different kind of race in Australia, to be strong from the beginning and make a gap. I thought riding without pressure it was time to ride a special way but it just didn’t work on Sunday. Anyway I expect Vale, Jorge and Dani to be strong here in Malaysia.”
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Rossi arrives in Malaysia on a high from his Phillip Island victory and he enthused, “It has been a good season for me from the beginning, but in the last four races Yamaha has won and it looks like we are closer to the Hondas so we can fight harder.” “I like Sepang it is one of my favourite tracks. It is the most difficult race for the riders because of the heat. You are on the limit physically and you have to be fit and to keep your concentration.” Meanwhile, Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Smith is also in good spirits having registered his first ever premier class podium result last weekend. He stated, “It has been a great week for me, I have finally achieved one of the dreams and goals that I had in MotoGP. But now we need to look ahead and focus on this weekend in Sepang.”
“This is a track I like and I had a half decent result here last year. I am close to the top six in the standings so I will keep pushing for that, it is a realistic objective.”
Crutchlow is looking for good results in his final two races with Ducati Team and he is understandably keen to get back on track having crashed out late in the race at the Australian Grand Prix. He said, “I believe we have really turned the season around but in the last two races we have not finished. You have to finish the race. This is racing, this is life. We had a not so bad test here at Sepang at the beginning of the year and hopefully we will start the weekend strong.”
