1st final round title showdown for Rossi

There's not much that reigning five-times MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi hasn't done during his illustrious career - but this weekend at Valencia he'll face his first ever final round title showdown.

Since being knocked from his bike in the first corner of the first race of the 2006 season at Jerez, Rossi has been through virtually every emotion known to a motorcycle racer leading up to Sunday's spectacular Spanish climax.

A dramatically unpredictable season of twists and turns has seen Rossi visit the gravel traps, the hospital and the top step of the podium in almost equal measures, with technical problems also robbing him of vital points in the first half of the season.

However, since finding himself a massive 51 points behind Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden, after round eleven of seventeen at Laguna Seca, The Doctor has mounted a dramatic comeback, claiming a string of five consecutive podium finishes - while Hayden has suffered five consecutive non-podiums, the most costly of which came last time out in Portugal.

Rossi began the penultimate round of the season 12 points behind Hayden but, despite just being beaten to the chequered flag by Toni Elias, will take a vital eight-point lead into Valencia after Hayden was eliminated on lap five at Estoril - by his own team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

Honda's home goal means Rossi leads the world championship for the first time this season - but also that, for the first time in fourteen years, the MotoGP World Championship will be decided at the final round, with the drama set to unfold in front of a sell-out crowd in excess of 120,000 people.

Few would bet against Rossi even if he was equal with Hayden heading into the event, but the American can only hope that his RCV 'team-mates' will aid his title bid - and that the new experience of final-round pressure will trouble Rossi more than him. That's unlikely, especially as Hayden has never won a world title before, but Rossi is more than aware that there will be no second chance - it's now or never this weekend.

"We're all very excited about this final race," said Rossi, who can afford to finish second even if Hayden wins on Sunday. "Of course it's not going to be like other times, when I have won the championship with some races to spare and less pressure.

Now I only have one chance. It's a big pressure for everyone but it's great for the show. Things went very well for us in Estoril - we've achieved our goal of coming here still fighting for the championship and for this I have to thank everyone in the team so much.

"Valencia isn't one of my best tracks and we also know that Hayden is really strong there, so it's definitely not going to be easy," he continued. "On the other hand we know that the M1 works quite well there and in the race last year it was very good in the second half of the race especially. If we can start from the front then I think we can try for the win, but whatever happens it's going to be a really exciting race. Hopefully Colin and I can be at the front together like in Estoril and we'll just see what we can do!"

As Rossi mentioned, Camel Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards played the perfect team role at Estoril - dutifully battling the Repsol riders for second position, while protecting Rossi's lead. When the RCV riders collided, Edwards continued to sit safely behind the unusually off-pace #46 - not knowing Hayden was out - and was later passed by both Elias and Kenny Roberts as a result.

Nevertheless, with a new Yamaha contract already believed to be in the Texan's pocket, Rossi can rely on Edwards to be the perfect team-mate again this weekend.

"I'm pretty excited about the last race of the season, it's going to be pretty close I reckon," said Edwards. "Estoril worked out well for the team and I was able to help Valentino out, which was the number one aim. Obviously I was disappointed not to be on the podium but my bike worked great and I think that we're in good shape to do it all again at Valencia.

"I've raced at Valencia for years so I know it really well and I know I am quite fast there. Like in Estoril, the aim is going to be to get on the front row alongside Valentino and then just to help him out in the race as much as possible. Of course this time out I want to be on the podium too, a Yamaha one-two would be the perfect end to the season!"

"Since the summer break we have just taken the races one-by-one, working our hardest and keeping our focus, and the results have been excellent," added team director Davide Brivio. "Our objective from Brno onwards was to keep fighting until the end of the season and try to get to the last round with a mathematical chance of winning the title. After Portugal that mathematical chance is a lot stronger than we expected but it is not over yet and, as we all know from our experience this season, anything can still happen."

In terms of past performance, on the three occasions that both Rossi and Hayden have raced at Valencia, Rossi has finished 1st (2003), 1st (2004) and 3rd (2005), with Hayden 16th (after a fall in 2003), not finishing (2004) and 2nd (2005).

"Valencia isn't one of Valentino's favourite tracks because it is so tight and twisty, but we won there in 2004 and finished third last year after starting well down the grid, so we know the M1 works well," said Jeremy Burgess, chief engineer to Rossi. "One of the big lessons we have learnt this season is that if you want to win in this class nowadays then you really have to start from the front so we will again be using the free practice sessions to make sure we have the right bike settings for both qualifying and the race."

Should Rossi take the title this weekend, he will go down in history as the only rider ever to win a 990cc world championship. 800cc engines will be introduced for the 2007 season onwards.