Indy MotoGP: Valentino Rossi ready to ram home advantage

Valentino Rossi is hoping he can bolster his hopes of a seventh MotoGP world title in 2009 by claiming a second successive Indianapolis GP win this weekend.

The Italian heads to America with a commanding 50-point lead over Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo having won four out of the last six races.

Rossi won a storm-lashed Indianapolis clash last season and a repeat would put him in strong position to win the title with only five races remaining after this weekend’s clash.

The 30-year-old certainly isn’t going to adopt a more relaxed approach with such a big lead and he said: “2008 in Indy was something special because it was the first time we had been there and it is definitely the most famous racetrack in the world.

“We didn’t really know what to expect but our bike worked very well and we were fast from the start, in the wet and the dry. Every year is a different story however so we won’t know where we are until we start our work on Friday afternoon.

“Last year I had a great win but, like everyone, I really hope that was the only hurricane we ever have to race in and that this time the conditions are more ‘normal’! As I said in Brno, it would be stupid for us to relax and consider the championship won, anything can happen and we know that Lorenzo will be very strong this weekend and determined to make up for the last two races. We must keep focused.”