Rossi wait for last lap of the last race

MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi believes the 2006 title will only be settled on the last lap of the last race - while current points leader Nicky Hayden has justified his position at the top of the table.

Rossi arrives at Estoril, venue for this weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix, 12 points behind the Repsol Honda rider after gaining 39 points on the American in the past four races. However, should Rossi lose 14 points to Hayden then the title will be decided in the #69's favour, one round early, on Sunday - but Rossi is expecting nothing to be settled until the last ever lap of 990cc racing.

"We've had four races where the M1 has worked very well with the tyres and we'll try to continue like this in the last two races. We are not so far behind, but for sure it will be difficult and the title will only be decided on the last lap at Valencia," declared Rossi, before reflecting on his volatile season so far.

"We had a lot of bad luck and difficult races at the beginning of the season then, when we found the way forward, I made the mistake at Assen and got injured. Then we came back strong at Laguna, but had the engine problem and fell 51 points behind. But we tried to keep our concentration and always knew our potential. We worked a lot before Brno and were able to get four podiums - and a lot of points - in the last four races. Our target is to stay on the podium for these two important races. I feel ready so we'll wait for tomorrow."