Nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi is excited about riding this weekend at Phillip Island, whilst his teammate Jorge Lorenzo arrives in Australia in a determined mood.

With no time for rest the Yamaha Factory Racing team and riders moved directly from Malaysia to Australia this week for the Tissot Australian Grand Prix.

The second of the triple-header races will see Rossi and Lorenzo looking to take the fight to their rivals in the final rounds, as the World Championship heads into its final three races.

Nine-time World Champion Rossi claims two 250cc wins in 1998 and 1999, a 500cc win in 2001 and an unbroken four-year premier class win streak from 2002 to 2005 at Phillip Island.

He left Malaysia with his seventh fourth place finish of 2013 and has finished in the top four at the last ten races. At Sepang he was not far behind Lorenzo and he senses an opportunity to step back onto the podium at round 16.

"I really like the Phillip Island circuit, it is great fun to ride here," says Rossi. "The track is very different from Sepang and I think that for us it will be better. We are improving with every race and I'm curious to see what happens in Australia. I made good races here and I won a lot."

"My goal is always the same, to fight with Jorge, Dani (Pedrosa) and Marc (Marquez). Now we will try to do the best in the next three races. We are ready to do this."


Defending World Champion Lorenzo has yet to take a premier class win at the Phillip Island circuit but does claim two 250cc victories there in 2006 and 2007 and retains good memories having sealed his 2012 world title there.

He admits, "I’m still a bit disappointed after Malaysia because we thought we could get a better result. The championship is very difficult now with three races remaining but at least we fought and we put all our efforts to win it. Phillip Island is a pretty track that I like a lot. Last year I achieved my second MotoGP world title there and that was a fantastic feeling."

"This time hopefully the weather is not so bad and we can have some fun. I would like to win as many races as possible until the end of the season at Valencia. That’s our main goal and also to fight with Dani for second place in the championship, that is if we can’t get the title; that is looking quite difficult now. I guess this circuit can suit us better than Aragon or Malaysia so I look forward to riding in a good shape in Australia."

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