With no respite at all in the World Motorcycling Championship the riders and teams have left Australia and have travelled to Malaysia, in Asia, for the penultimate date in the calendar the Malaysian Grand Prix. The track of Sepang, with its two large straights, is a challenge for any rider, motorbike and team, because of the extreme weather conditions. High temperatures and humidity make it into one of the toughest races of the year. This will be in contrast with the recent chilly weekend in Australia, but without a doubt there will be a great atmosphere.

Nicky Hayden, who had to retire from the recent Australian Grand Prix with mechanical problems when he was third, goes to Australia with the memory of the fourth position he got last year at the circuit of Sepang. After the American Repsol Honda Team rider`s big disappointment at Phillip Island, he will be seeking, just like his teammate, to say farewell to the season with a victory, something he has not been able to achieve this year with the number 1 on his bike. Malaysia is one of his two last chances to try and do so.

Dani Pedrosa returns to the place where he had an authentic nightmare experience last year, but it had a happy ending. After dominating the Friday morning free practice session with a fast pace, in the afternoon Pedrosa had a spectacular fall where he seriously damaged his right knee. The Repsol Honda Team rider mulled over not racing because of the injury, but in the end with great courage and dignity, Pedrosa was on the starting grid and finished third. A podium that was a moral victory after his difficult weekend. After his fourth placed finish last weekend his aim of being runner-up, he has to overtake Valentino Rossi currently second, has become more difficult. 29 points separate him from the Italian hero, but with only 50 points up for grabs. The Repsol rider is aware of how difficult it will be to beat the Italian, but at the same time he knows that it is still mathematically possible and that fact together with a victory, are his objectives before the 2007 season ends.

Nicky Hayden
Last week's result at Phillip Island definitely stung. But at least I was fighting for the lead when I went out rather than 12th place - that would have hurt even more. It's disappointing but I've just got to get over it. At Malaysia I think I've had fourth place every year since my debut and now I need to improve on that.

The team's been doing some good work with the bike recently and we've been improving our performance, so now I'm really looking forward to getting to Sepang. It's a track we know well from winter testing but I think it's been repaved since we were last there which will make tyre choice really important. At the other tracks we've been to that have been repaved for this year we've either gone really well or really badly so let's hope this one works out for us. We really need a good result and time is running out this season. There's only two more chances so we'll go all this weekend.

Dani Pedrosa
It really feels like it's time to get a good result because we've been knocking on the door for a few races now. The weather has affected many races this year and it also played a part at the last one in Phillip Island because the rain meant we didn't have much dry practice time ahead of the race.

In Malaysia weather is often a factor too - it can rain very hard in the afternoon as we saw last year when qualifying was cancelled. Last year's race here went quite well for me, especially after crashing in practice and not being sure that I would even be able to race. For this year I hope things go more smoothly and we can arrive at a good set-up and tyre selection so that we can be competitive right to the final lap. This is our target for the weekend. The Sepang track is quite demanding to ride and the high temperatures add to the challenge. I'm really looking forward to getting a strong result here.