After a superb race at Phillip Island where Yamaha filled the podium, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP heads to Malaysia for another heated battle at the Sepang International Circuit for the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

Strengthened by his victory from last Sunday, Valentino Rossi has extra motivation to fight for second place in the championship. The Doctor is a fan of the Malaysian track, where he stood on the podium nine times in his career. He has won at the Sepang circuit in the 500cc class in 2001 and claimed premier class victories in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.

During the race at Phillip Island teammate Jorge Lorenzo successfully fended off his rivals for second place despite suffering tyre problems. This weekend the Spaniard hopes to be able to ride a problem free race at Sepang. Though he likes the track, he has yet to claim a premier class MotoGP victory here. In previous years he climbed the Malaysian premier class podium on three occasions, claiming second place in 2012 and third place in 2010 and 2013.

The fast and wide Sepang International Circuit held its first Grand Prix in 1999 and is known to host some of the most exciting races thanks to its combination of four slow corners, two long straights and ten medium to high-speed corners. The circuit’s diverse sections not only provide challenges when it comes to the set up of the bike, but its 5.5 km length and extremely hot and humid conditions make it one of the most testing tracks for the riders. Only those in peak physical condition can endure a full race length.

Valentino Rossi - Championship: 2nd / 255 points

"Apart from the temperature being a bit too high for MotoGP racing, I really like the Malaysian track. I have always had good races here. We are doing a good job this season and I want to get a good result here. We are working well with the team and I feel very well. The last victory in Australia was great, we are very happy but mostly it was another beautiful confirmation of the good work we're doing. This weekend we have to work well from Friday and fix every little detail to get to the race with a good set-up. The bike has improved a lot and this showed with three Yamaha riders on the Australian podium. The race in Malaysia will be the last of three in a row. I will do my best to win again. I got my second win of the season and now I want to fight for second place in the championship. It will be a great fight with Dani and Jorge in the next two races!”

Jorge Lorenzo - Championship: 3rd / 247 points

“At Phillip Island it was a really difficult race, but despite all of the problems that we’ve suffered during the race we still managed to get another podium. I look forward to racing at Sepang, it's a nice track. Maybe it’s not the best place for our bike but we know this circuit really well because we usually do some testing here during the pre-season. It's always tricky to race in Malaysia because of the weather conditions, but even if it's rainy the grip at the circuit is not so bad. I would like to be competitive again, especially because I want to fight for the second place in the championship. Personally, I’m feeling well and I’m in a good physical shape so we can be optimistic for this weekend.”

Massimo Meregalli - Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team Director

“After two great weekends we arrive at the last of the three back-to-back races. We had some great results these last few weeks with Vale’s amazing victory at Phillip Island last weekend and Jorge winning the weekend before at Motegi, but the Grand Prix of Malaysia might be the biggest challenge of the three. Sepang always is quite challenging because of the heat and its specific layout. Thanks to the pre-season test we have quite a lot of data and since the riders both like this circuit, I think we can be positive in our expectations. The bike is working really well and it will be interesting to see how our newfound data from this season will affect our times. We are ready to do our best again, which is very important as we are almost at the end of the season."


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