Rossi looks to keep streak alive

From Yamaha Racing

The Fiat Yamaha team heads into its home Grand Prix at Mugello in Italy this weekend looking to continue the most successful ever start to a MotoGP World Championship for the Japanese factory.

Yamaha riders have won three of the first five races of the year, having taken pole in four of them, and have racked up nine podiums - including a top-three lockout at the last round in France. Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo currently occupy the top two positions in the championship, while Yamaha is leading both the Constructors' and Teams' standings.

The 300km trip to Mugello from the team's current base in Milan has traditionally been a successful one for the factory, who have dominated for the last four seasons with Rossi. The Italian's record at his home race is second to none, with an unbeaten run of six seasons in MotoGP to add to victories in each of the 125cc and 250cc classes.

Back-to-back successes in the last two rounds of this season mean that for the first time in over a year Rossi leads the World Championship, although just three points separate him from team-mate Lorenzo, who is tied on points with Dani Pedrosa.

Lorenzo has a strong record at Mugello, having gone from his debut 250cc pole to second place in 2005 before taking victory from pole in 2006. However, last year he started from 20th place following a rain-affected qualifying session and then slid out of the lead on the final lap, re-mounting to finish eighth.

One of the fastest circuits on the calendar, with the 1,141m front straight last year tempting the new 800cc machines towards top speeds in excess of 320km/h, Mugello differs from other fast circuits in its frequent changes of gradient and the speed of its chicanes. There is a mix of slower and high-speed corners, although even the slowest corners are still wide - allowing plenty of scope for overtaking as the riders get a choice of line, putting the emphasis as much on their skill as on the precision of their chassis set-up.

"Everyone knows that Mugello is one of my favourite tracks," Rossi said. "I've won there six times in a row and now I want to make it seven. It's my home race and also the home race for a lot of our team and to race there is always something very special. It's fast and technical and we know it suits our bike so we will be aiming to be quick right from Friday morning. I hope the weather is good - for us and for all the fans - and then hopefully we can have a big Italian party."