Rossi talks about title decider nerves

Tomorrow marks the first opportunity that Rossi has to clinch the MotoGP world championship but the nine times champion is making sure that everyone is aware that there’s a very slim chance of champagne corks being popped in Malaysia.

With an 11 point lead Rossi knows that a top four finish could be enough to win the title but that it would also rely on Jorge Lorenzo failing to score points.

“Sincerely I don’t think something very different because I don’t think that tomorrow will be easy,” said Rossi before talking about what you feel the night before a title decider. “Sincerely now the pressure is coming high so during the night you start to think about the tracks, the corners, Valencia and everything.

“You feel more excited the night before. It’s difficult to sleep with a lot of energy, you feel the pressure. But when you open your eyes is like you can open a little bit more and you can see more clear the colour and what happens around you. But I think it will be not this night, because I think it will finish in Valencia.”

That extra energy could be key for Rossi in tomorrow’s race. He has been keeping his powder dry for most of the weekend and been riding with worn rubber a lot but starting ahead of Lorenzo leaves him feeling a lot more comfortable than he had after the opening day of practice.

“For sure this qualifying gives me more peace because yesterday I was worried because everything was good until I put the last two tyres. Unfortunately I had some problem, some vibration, some chattering, so I go down into eighth place and Jorge was [fastest].But today I demonstrate a better pace, better rhythm so I think quite normal. So I’ll go to the hotel, eat something and try to go to sleep – but it never happens!”