With four rounds of the 2010 MotoGP Championship remaining, Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo may possibly clench the title this weekend at the Shell Advance Malaysian GP in Sepang, the second of three back-to-back races.
The Spaniard will enter Sepang 69 points of Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, who is currently recovering from surgery. Pedrosa, also of Spain, broke his collarbone at practice last Friday for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
Due to recovery, Pedrosa's apperance on the Sepang circuit is highly doubtful, but he says his target for competing on the RC212V again will be Phillip Island in Australia, which is the week following Sepang.
Jorge Lorenzo says: "Last year was a bit crazy with the rain and then I had to start from last on the grid! I would definitely prefer it to be dry this year. The team and I will focus in the same way we have all season, working hard from Friday and with the goal of podium or victory. We hope for the best result we can get."
As Lorenzo chases the 2010 MotoGP title, Casey Stoner chases his third consecutive win on the GP10. The Ducati Team rider, who currently holds third in the championship with 180 points, won at Aragon and Motegi, and also took victories in Sepang during his championship-winning year (2007) and last year.
Twenty-one points behind the Australian Stoner is Pedrosa's teammate, Andrea Dovizioso, who had his best result of the year last week at Motegi, the Italian finishing in second after taking his first MotoGP pole. Also, Dovi took his first-ever podium finish in the premier class at Sepang in 2008.
Rossi trails Dovi by three points, and has won at Sepang an impressive five times. Rossi 46 also clenched last year's title with a podium finish there last MotoGP season.
Two Americans hold the sixth and seventh spots in the championship, Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider Ben Spies and Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden, respectively. Spies has little experience except a few pre-season tests at the circuit, but Hayden has finished fourth at Sepang five times.
Rounding out the top ten in the championship are LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet, Can Carlo Honda Gresini's Marco Simoncelli, and the last American currently competing in MotoGP, Spies' teammate Colin Edwards.
Sepang International Race Circuit, Malaysia.
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