Zoom Valentino Rossi

The Fiat Yamaha Team contest their second ‘home' race of the season this weekend, with the San Marino Grand Prix taking place on Italian soil at the Misano circuit on the Adriatic coast.

The trip is a short one for the team, whose base is just 300km away in Milan, but even shorter for Valentino Rossi, with his hometown of Tavullia located a mere 15km down the road.

The multi-World Champion heads to the thirteenth round of the current MotoGP series with his sights firmly set on a sixth premier-class title after extending his advantage over Casey Stoner to 50 points in the last round at Brno. Having missed out on the title for the past two seasons following a five-year winning streak, Rossi's improvement is outlined by the fact that a fifth-place finish this Sunday will see him outscore his tally for either of those campaigns.

“I'm really excited to be going to Misano in such good shape and leading the championship. Last year the race was a huge disappointment for us, a very low point of the season, and especially sad because it happened in front of my home fans”, said the Italian. “But this time things are very different; we've had two fantastic races in a row and we are feeling very strong and very confident. We are out to make up for 2007! Misano is so close to my home town of Tavullia that I know there will be an army of Italian fans there, and I hope it's going to be a great party for all of them. Last year there was some terrible weather before the race as well so I really hope that this year we have sunshine and we can enjoy a fantastic race by the sea!”

The 29-year-old's army of local supporters are sure to be in party mood at the lively seaside resort as he looks to make up for the disappointment of a mechanical breakdown in this race last year and score three consecutive wins for the second time this season. Also within Rossi's range is the all-time record for premier-class victories, set at 68 by Giacomo Agostini back in 1976.

“Last year we arrived in Misano with a 60-point disadvantage to Stoner and now we are 50 ahead so the situation is completely reversed and obviously that's great for us. Having said that, we still have six difficult races left and there are circuits coming up where we know our rivals will be very strong”, added Team Manager Davide Brivio. “Misano is one of the places where last year we were not so bad so it could be one of the places we can fight. It is difficult to overtake but I expect and hope for another good show. Valentino's targets haven't changed since the start of the season – the first priority is to be on the podium, which is even more crucial at this stage, and when possible fight to win. Those objectives remains the same regardless of the points situation.”

© CAPSIS International