Rossi on course to claim title

		Rossi is on course to lift his seventh premier class title at this weekend's Malaysian Moto GP, going into the race with a thumping 38-point advantage in the world championship.

SEPANG (Malaysia) - VALENTINO Rossi is on course to lift his seventh premier class title at this weekend's Malaysian Moto GP, going into the race with a thumping 38-point advantage in the world championship.

A top-four ride in Sepang, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, will be enough for the 30-year-old Italian to be crowned the 2009 world champion on Sunday.

Rossi, fresh from placing second in Australia last weekend, has sweet memories of victories in Sepang - the season's penultimate event - and a circuit he has repeatedly said is a personal favourite.

'I like this track. It is an important race. So the main target is to have a good setting for Sunday. It is more important to think of the championship title,' he told reporters. 'The main target is to arrive in the first four and to stay ahead of Lorenzo and be on the podium,' he added, referring to Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Rossi has a history of good form in the punishing heat of Malaysia, where he won from second on the grid last year and has seven podium finishes here in total, including five wins.

Taking second place at the Australian Grand Prix extended his lead at the top of the world championship standings, where he is sitting on a comfortable 270 points, after title rival Lorenzo's first-lap crash. --