The MotoGP World Championship has already landed on Malaysian soil as the preparations begin for the thirteenth round of the season, just four days after the accident-strewn Grand Prix of Japan, which saw equal measures of joy and despair for the Telefónica Movistar team.

The delight of a one-two in the 250cc race, including Hiroshi Aoyama’s debut victory and second place for Dani Pedrosa, was clouded just one hour later by a double crash for Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri in the MotoGP race.

Sete escaped without injury and remains confident of turning around a season marked by a series of race crashes despite good performances in practice. Marco Melandri, meanwhile, came out worst from a collision with the current World Champion Valentino Rossi. The Italian underwent an operation after suffering a deep wound to his right foot, which was punctured by the footpeg of his Honda, and his participation in the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix is still in doubt.

Marco arrived at the team hotel in a wheelchair on Monday night with 35 stitches and a badly swollen ankle. For the Italian it is a question of seeing how he develops between now and Saturday as he aims to make a swift recovery and even take part in the final free practice session.

Dani Pedrosa has had slightly more luck than Melandri. He made a major effort in Sunday’s race to get over the pain in his left shoulder caused by three crashes in practice, but time has been on the World Champion’s side. Dani has undergone ice treatment to reduce the swelling in his shoulder and has been wearing a sling to hold the joint steady as he aims to use the four days before the Grand Prix to get back to full fitness.

His second-place finish at Motegi increased his championship advantage over Casey Stoner to 63 points and Sepang has been the scene for some of the greatest moments in his career so far. In just four races here Dani has been on the podium three times, taking third place in 2002 to follow on from fourth the previous season and then clinching dominant victories for the past two seasons. He celebrated the 125cc World Championship here in 2003 and clinched the 250cc title last year with a 13-second victory over Sebastián Porto.

Hiroshi Aoyama broke his victory duck at his home race and the Japanese rider is confident of more success between now and the end of the season.

RIDER QUOTES

Sete Gibernau:
“I hope things go a little better at Sepang; it won’t be that difficult after the weekend we had in Japan. We haven’t gone too badly at Malaysia in the past -in 2003 we had a great race and I hope we can all arrive there with the mentality that our luck is about to change. I’m glad the race is this weekend so that we can keep up the tension and fight for my first victory of the season. Physically I am ok and our current situation has to turn around sooner or later. I have to give everything I have and so do the team. I know we will work just as hard as at every Grand Prix; it is difficult because I can’t remember a season as negative as this, but we have to keep working hard so that the results come.”

Marco Melandri:
“I had bad luck with the crash. They let me fly on Monday night and to be honest it was a comfortable flight, there were no problems. Right now the injury doesn’t hurt but I know that it will be tough on the bike. Maybe I’ll try on Saturday but I have a lot of stitches and the area is still quite swollen. I don’t know if I’ll have the strength I need to control the bike. Luckily we still have a couple of days to rest and then we’ll decide what is the best thing to do.”

Dani Pedrosa:
“I hope to have a bit more of a quieter weekend than in Japan, which won’t be hard! The shoulder is getting gradually better, I’m applying ice to reduce the inflammation and these few days will be good for me to rest and recuperate. I left Japan completely exhausted from the effort. In the end the result was much better than we expected but these things just go to show that we have to keep focused from race to race because the whole situation can change in one weekend. The only thing I’m concerned about now is to be as fit as possible on Friday to be able to start working hard from the first session.”

Hiroshi Aoyama:
“We enjoyed the victory at Motegi a lot. On Sunday night we had a really nice meal with all my family and friends and it was really fun. I think I needed that win to convince myself that I can be up there in every race, even though we’d been close a couple of times. I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike and in that respect I’m glad there is no gap between races. At Motegi we were under a lot of pressure and we knew how to respond. I was one of the favourites to win but it still needed to be done. I hope to be up front again in Malaysia from the start because I know the victory in Japan wasn’t a coincidence – it was the result of the hard work we’ve been doing all season.”

THE VENUE

MALAYSIAN GP
Circuit: Sepang
Grand Prix: Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Inauguration: 1998
Latest modification: 1999
Length: 5.548 m.
Width: 25 m.
Right corners: 10
Left corners: 5
Main straight: 920 m.

MOVISTAR RIDER RESULTS AT SEPANG 

	Rider	Category	Classification
1996	Sete Gibernau	250cc	Shah Alam
1997	Sete Gibernau	500cc.	Shah Alam
1998	Sete Gibernau	500cc	Johor
	Marco Melandri	125cc	Johor
1999	Sete Gibernau	500cc	10th
	Marco Melandri	125cc	-
2000	Sete Gibernau	500cc	7th
	Marco Melandri	250cc	5th
2001	Sete Gibernau	500cc	8th
	Marco Melandri	250cc	11th
	Dani Pedrosa	125cc	4th
2002	Sete Gibernau	MotoGP	14th
	Marco Melandri	250cc	-
	Dani Pedrosa	125cc	3rd
2003	Sete Gibernau	MotoGP	2nd
	Marco Melandri	MotoGP	11th
	Dani Pedrosa	125cc	1st
2004	Sete Gibernau	MotoGP	7th
	Marco Melandri	MotoGP	-
	Dani Pedrosa	250cc	1st
	Hiroshi Aoyama	250cc	-

 THE CIRCUIT ACCORDING TO:

 SETE GIBERNAU

Humid
This is a really wide circuit with a good surface and we also do a lot of winter testing here. You need the bike to be really well balanced and the tyres also play a major role because of the heat and humidity.

MARCO MELANDRI

Tough
It is a fun and technical circuit. It’s probably one of the toughest because of the heat, the long corners and the grip, which takes a lot out of the front tyre. The heat makes the track surface a little slippery. I didn’t used to like it and I’ve never had good results here, but I started to enjoy myself at the Honda tests in January. Now I’ve got a much better feeling and my confidence is higher. For a fast lap time it’s important to control the sliding.

DANI PEDROSA

Modern
The facilities are exemplary and the track is long and very complete. The heat and humidity can be a decisive factor in the race, but it’s manageable. The track combines every type of section and most people tend to like it.

HIROSHI AOYAMA

motorway
This is a tough circuit for me because it is so wide, with a lot of different lines, and you need an extra set of eyes! It’s easy to lose your way at Sepang and it has two long straights where you need a lot of power in the engine. It’s always very hot and the humidity is also very high, which makes the race even harder.

 THE 2005 SEASON SO FAR FOR THE MOVISTAR RIDERS 

	SETE GIBERNAU	MARCO MELANDRI	DANI PEDROSA	HIROSHI AOYAMA
JEREZ	Race: 2nd  Standings: 2nd	Race: 3rd Standings: 3rd	Race: 1st Standings: 1st	Race: crashed Standings: -
ESTORIL	Race: crashed Standings: 5th	Race: 4th Standings: 3rd	Race: 4th Standings: 1st	Race: 6th Standings:10th
SHANGHAI	Race: 4th Standings: 5th	Race: 3rd Standings: 2nd	Race: 6th Standings: 3rd	Race:3rd Standings: 6th
LE MANS	Race:2nd  Standings: 3rd	Race: 4º  Standings: 2nd	Race: 1st Standings: 1st	Race: 6th Standings: 7th
MUGELLO	Race:crash Standings: 4th	Race: 4th Standings: 2nd	Race: 1st Standings: 1st	Race: 7th Standings: 7th
CATALUNYA	Race: 2nd Standings: 4th	Race: 3rd Standings: 2nd	Race: 1st Standings: 1st	Race: 4th Standings: 4th
ASSEN	Race: 5th Standings: 4th	Race: 2nd Standings: 2nd	Race: 2nd Standings:1st	Race:4th Standings: 5th
LAGUNA SECA	Race: 5th Standings: 4th	Race: crashed Standings:2nd	N/A	N/A
DONINGTON	Race:crashed Standings: 5th	Race:crashed Standings: 2nd	Race: 4th Standings: 1st	Race: crashed Standings: 7th
SACHSENRING	Race: 2nd Standings: 3rd	Race: 7th Standings: 2nd	Race: 1st Standings: 1st	Race:3rd Standings: 7th
BRNO	Race: retir. Standings: 5th	Race: 6th Standings: 3rd	Race: 1st Standings: 1st	Race: 5th Standings: 7th
MOTEGI	Race: crashed Standings: 7th	Race: crashed Standings: 4th	Race: 2nd Standings: 1st	Race: 1st Standings: 4th

LAP RECORDS:

MOTOGP
Circuit record: 2’03”253 Valentino Rossi (2004)
Pole 2004: 2’01“833 Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
Podium 2004:  1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), 2. Max Biaggi (Honda), 3. Alex Barros (Honda)

250 CC.
Circuit record: 2’08”015 Dani Pedrosa (2004)
Pole 2004: 2’06”940 Sebastián Porto (Aprilia)
Podium 2004: 1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 2. Sebastián Porto (Aprilia), 3. Toni Elías (Honda)

125 CC.
Circuit record: 2’13”919 Lucio Cecchinello (2002)
Pole 2004: 2’12”684 Andrea Dovizioso (Honda)
Podium 2004: 1. Casey Stoner (Aprilia), 2. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), 3. Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia)

SUNDAY TIMETABLE
(CET +6h)
12.00h. 125cc race (19 laps, 105.412km)
13.15h. 250cc race (20 laps, 110.960km)
15.00h. MotoGP race (21 laps, 116.508km)