Italy's Valentino Rossi will have his first chance of winning this year's MotoGP championship on Sunday and intends to do just that.
All the Yamaha rider needs to do to win his sixth premier class title is make the podium at the Japanese Grand Prix even if Ducati's Casey Stoner, the reigning MotoGP champion and second in the standings, wins the race.
''My points advantage gives me this chance to clinch the title and I'm certainly going to try,'' Rossi said on his arrival for the race weekend.
''The important thing is to keep my concentration. I need to tackle the practices, qualifying and race the same way I have in every race this season,'' the 29-year-old added.
''Everything will depend on how I feel Sunday morning. Its a question of feelings and should winning seem too risky, then I just might do the math and race accordingly. After all, even a podium finish will give me the title,'' the Yamaha rider observed.
Rossi said his greatest obstacle will be the Motegi track itself, which the Italian rider admitted was certainly not one of his favorites.
''I prefer more fluid tracks with fast corners, whereas at Motegi you have to brake sharply a lot and even if there are a lot of places to overtake, it's easy to make mistakes braking,'' he explained.
''But even if it's not the best track in the world, it would make Yamaha very happy if I won the title here... and make me happy too,'' Rossi added.
If the Yamaha rider does clinch his sixth title on Sunday, he will join his idol Giacomo Agostini as the only rider to win a title after a two-year gap.
''Winning a title is hard, repeating yourself is even harder, especially if you have already won seven of them, but winning after two years is a real feat,'' Rossi said.
Aside from his five premier titles, all in a row, Rossi has also won the 125cc and 250cc championships.
Rossi beat Agostini's record for the number of premier class victories when he triumphed at the US Grand Prix earlier this month and brought his total to 69.
Clinching the championship on Sunday will also allow Rossi to overtake Mick Doohan for the total number of premier titles and make the Italian the only rider ever to have won the world championship on all premier class machines, the 500cc, 1000cc and current 800cc bikes.
He will also be the only rider to win the title on five different bikes, the three premier ones along with the 125cc and 250cc machines.
