AUSTRALIAN MOTOGP
Date: Sunday 5 October Coverage:125cc & 250cc races 0245-0515, BBC Red Button and BBC Sport website Race live: 0545-0700, BBC ONE and BBC Sport website Race repeat: 1605-1710, BBC ONE and BBC Sport website
Coverage on the BBC Sport website is available for UK users only Last week everything was about Valentino Rossi winning the world title. Now that's all wrapped up, everyone is anticipating a gloves-off, let's-have-some-fun race in Australia, so I think this weekend could be really good. All the riders love the Phillip Island circuit and with nothing at stake apart from pride, I hope we're going to see a battle royale. Casey Stoner has lost his crown but has a huge amount of home fans, and there's nothing like that to spur you on, but we also have Rossi, who wants to stamp his authority and show Stoner that he can't beat him.  | At the news conference the riders were all smiley but there's still animosity, it's all about bragging rights |
Bring in Dani Pedrosa, who was second last year and will want to keep hold of that, then add in Jorge Lorenzo who wants to get back to how he was at the start - I really think we're up for a great battle. I can't see Rossi easing off just because he's champion. He never ceases to amaze me. Look at last weekend - he only needed a podium place to be champion, but he had to go out and win. He wants to keep the hammer down and demoralise anyone he can for next year already. You might think he'd cruise to the end of the season, but he's such a racer, he wouldn't do that. He just keeps re-writing the record books but I'm not sure records will be on his mind this weekend. He just loves being top of the podium. At the news conference the riders were all smiley but there's still animosity, it's all about bragging rights. How Lorenzo is still with us, who knows - after the great start he had, maybe he thought he could run with the hares and tried too hard. | AUSTRALIAN MOTOGP 125cc & 250cc races 0245-0515, BBC Red Button and BBC Sport website Race live: 0545-0700, BBC ONE and BBC Sport website
Race repeat: 1605-1710, BBC ONE and BBC Sport website
Coverage on the BBC Sport website is available for UK users only |
He's had some massive crashes this year and was very bent and buckled halfway through the year. But now he's realised his mistakes, settled down and is back on form. He's probably already preparing for next year. At the start of the year he was a bit flippant but as the year's gone on, he's realised it takes more than just a couple of races to win a championship. You've got to still be there at the end, and he missed a huge chunk of the middle. He's learnt a huge amount from watching a master at work. He started off thinking he was as good as Rossi, and I think he will be in time to come. It's hard to say if he can equal Rossi's achievements, but he has got championships in him and Rossi has only got a certain number of years left. Someone else looking for a good result on Sunday will be James Toseland, who celebrates his 28th birthday on race day. He had a fantastic start to life in MotoGP and set the bar high, but the season went crooked when he crashed out on the first lap at Donington, and it's never really recovered. He had a great race in Misano and fell victim to bad weather in Indianapolis but we have three races coming up - Australia, Malaysia and Valencia - where he knows the circuits, and now he knows the bike, so he's got no excuse. To better his top finish so far (sixth) would be great. If he ends up in the top 10 in the championship, that's what we were expecting.
Phillip Island prediction 1. Rossi 2. Stoner 3. Lorenzo Steve Parrish was talking to Julian Shea
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