After an exhausting trip across Asia, Australia and the Middle East, Rossi returns to Spain for the third time this season looking to add to his earlier victories at Catalunya and Jerez and continue his love affair with the Valencia crowd, which is expected to top 120,000 people. Rossi has won there for the last two years, his 2004 Valencia success with Yamaha his ninth of the year, more than any other Yamaha rider had previously managed in a single season. This time he has the chance to go a step further by equalling Mick Doohan’s all-time record of twelve wins in a season.

The MotoGP World Champion, who took his seventh world championship title three races ago at Sepang in Malaysia, followed up his championship success with victory at Qatar and second place at Istanbul, confirming his motivation to finish the season on a high note and taking his points total to a mammoth 351. By finishing ninth or higher at Valencia, Rossi would also set a new points record for the premier-class, surpassing his tally of 357 in the 2003 season.

Rossi’s Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards is also aiming for a points finish this weekend as he looks to end the campaign with a 100% point-scoring record. The American is the only MotoGP rider to have scored points in each of the sixteen rounds so far this year, a show of consistency which sees him tackling the last race of the year still holding an outside chance of finishing as the championship runner-up in only his first season with Yamaha.

Valentino Rossi heads to Valencia this weekend with one eye on the past and one on the future. The emergence of Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden as key challengers over the course of the season has given the World Champion extra motivation as he looks ahead to defending the title for a fifth time in 2006, and he is expecting a strong challenge from them and other riders this weekend.

Valentino Rossi:
Some new young riders have come to the front of the field over the last few races, and I am sure we’ll have another big battle in Valencia. Of course I am not old and I hope that I have a few more years at the top yet! I am looking forward to Valencia and we hope our bike works well there and that we can find a good setting straight away.

In Valencia we will really try for the win again; last year we won there with Yamaha and I also won the year before; I like ending the season with a victory! It is still possible for me to equal Doohan’s win record and beat my own, and this is my aim for the last race. Our bike goes well in Valencia and it’s always a great race. It is Spain, there are many people and the fans are wonderful. It’s always a big party for everyone!

With second place in the championship now only a distant possibility, Edwards will nonetheless be looking to take as many points as possible in Valencia with an eye to finishing higher than his current fourth spot. Valencia will also provide a chance for him to work on continuing to perfect the new riding style he adopted at Istanbul. After struggling to make the step up from podium regular to victory contender in 2005, the experienced Texan has decided that it is time to re-evaluate his approach to MotoGP racing following several years of success in the World Superbike series.

Colin Edwards
I hate to be where I am in my career and having to learn something completely new but that is the situation we are in. I’m trying to put more corner speed into my riding, adding aspects of a 250cc style to my Superbike instincts, but I need more laps to get used to it before I can challenge to win races in MotoGP. I don’t like thinking that the last race of the season will be like a test for me but we have to look to next season and see how we can improve. Hopefully this is the answer.

I have ridden at Valencia for many seasons so it will definitely be a big help to be working on the new style at a track I know well. Melandri and Hayden are on fire at the moment so it will be very tough to beat either of them in the championship, but of course I am still going to try! I never give up and so I’ll keep fighting until the end and see what happens this Sunday. I’ve had some highs and lows this season, but it would be really nice to finish off with a podium and a nice memory to take home over the winter!

Gauloises Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio has challenged his staff to end the season on a high note this weekend as they look to put the gloss on a sparkling year of celebrations for Yamaha’s 50th Anniversary. Motivation within the camp has remained high even with the riders’, teams’ and constructors’ titles already decided and the Italian is asking for more of the same, with three more days’ of intense effort required before the end of season celebrations can begin.

Davide Brivio
This weekend is the last race of what has been a very good season for us. It has been a great pleasure to help bring so much success to Yamaha in its 50th Anniversary year and we want to finish it in the best possible way. We took the victory at Valencia last season and it would be nice to do the same again.

We have two targets for the weekend really. One is for a Yamaha victory and the other is to improve Colin’s fourth position in the championship. It will be difficult because the riders in front of him have a good advantage now and they are looking strong but it is not over yet so we will be trying our best. We have a lot of guests and VIPs from around Europe and Japan coming to the race so it would be nice to put on a good show for them and enjoy the celebration party together.