By Steve Parrish BBC motorbikes commentator

Rossi's strength lies in his determination and his overriding belief in himself that he can beat anyone Steve Parrish

The MotoGP season is all falling into place and I still think Valentino Rossi is going to be the man.

He won in Malaysia last week after a thrilling duel with Loris Capirossi.

I lost count of how many times the lead changed hands, they swapped places four times in one lap alone.

It was a stunning performance. Capirossi did another great job but Rossi was quite simply superb.

I think his strength lies in his determination and overriding belief in himself that he can beat anyone, and he can.

It was lovely to see the warmth Rossi and Capirossi afforded each other after the race.

Generally, MotoGP riders get on so well with one another as they have to gladiatorially combat each other at such high levels of danger that they respect each other enormously.

I was very impressed with Dani Pedrosa finishing third after riding with a knee injury but to me he remains a bit of a drama queen.

If the injury had happened to Capirossi I know he wouldn't have made as much fuss as the Spaniard did.

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He is so, so incredibly talented but he also makes a real drama out of everything.

He had everyone bustling around him but by the time the race had started he was racing as well as he ever does.

He will be fine for this weekend as he has got no excuses whatsoever; if he can finish third with an injury he can certainly compete on Sunday.

As for championship leader Nicky Hayden, the sweat is really on.

He is still using a new prototype chassis and it is very difficult for us outsiders, and even him, to know whether it is right or not - he has nothing to gauge it against as he is the only person using it.

He rode a good solid race in Sepang to finish fourth and perhaps that is what he has calculated he needs to do until the end of the season.

I know he'd like to win races but he must not fall down.

It is a very difficult situation for him as it is the hardest thing in the world to defend a championship at this stage of the season with the quality of riders behind him.

He has to get himself back on the podium otherwise his 22-point lead is going to evaporate very quickly.

But what do you say to him, "Go faster and then fall off?"

It's a sharp knife edge that he could really cut himself on.

I fancy Rossi to win again this weekend as he is stunning around the Phillip Island track.

Bridgestone tyres go well there as well so Capirossi should be a threat again as will Pedrosa, who will be very fast as there is a long straight and he is so small.