Valencia, Oct 31: Riders prepare for the final Grand Prix of the season. Valentino Rossi goes into the final Grand Prix of the season at Valencia this weekend with a third successive MotoGP title in the bag and another record in his sights. The biggest question at the Spanish circuit on Sunday, however, is whether or not it will be the last time the 24-year-old rides the Honda RCV on which he has dominated the top class of motorcycling for the last two years. Rossi's contract with Honda is up at the end of the season and he has yet to agree a new one. Speculation has strongly linked him with a move to Yamaha for a salary thought to be in the region of $10 million a year. Rossi will be chasing his ninth victory of the season at the Ricardo Tormo track and a finish in the top three would enable him to equal Giacomo Agostini's record of 22 consecutive podium finishes set in the late 1960s. The slow Valencia track, with its 14 corners and one short straight, is the only grand prix circuit currently in use where the young Italian has never topped the podium.


"I never made pole position here and never won a race, it's not one of my favourite circuits," said Rossi at a news conference on Thursday (October 30).

Bureau Report