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Rossi eyeing big prize
Valentino Rossi is looking to continue his great record in the Australian GP this weekend and says that he believes he can still win this year's MotoGP championship.
The Yamaha rider 's title hopes looked in tatters as he failed to finish in the American GP while current leader Nicky Hayden came away with victory, but second place in Brno and a win last weekend in Sepang have seen the Italian close the gap again.
Rossi is currently third but is just 26 points behind Hayden and the next edition of the championship is on Philip Island, a track where he has five straight wins under his belt and he feels that victory there this weekend would put him in a great position.
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The 27-year-old admitted: "After Laguna I didn't entirely believe in my chances for the championship anymore, but then after Brno I said to myself 'okay we still have a chance, we can try.'
"Now my objective is to win as many races as possible, then we see in Valencia."
Unsurprisingly, Rossi is looking forward to riding again on one of his happiest hunting grounds, describing Philip Island as "a special place, very beautiful" and waxing lyrical about its "old style track".
The defending champion has won more races than any other rider this season, with five victories already, but inconsistency has dogged him and having failed to complete three races so far as well, he will be hoping his luck holds out in the crucial weeks ahead.
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