Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams is wary of the Brazilian bumps as he prepares for the Rio de Janeiro round of the MotoGP season.

After a season blighted by mechanical troubles, the KR Proton rider has finally strung together a series of results, with his ninth place at Portugal last time out marking a third straight top-10 finish.

Now the 38-year-old hopes the bumpy nature of the Jacarepagua track in Rio does not bring a premature end to his most successful spell in GPs.

"You forget how bumpy this circuit is until you go back there," said McWilliams.

"It is unbelievable. The track is well laid out, but it is the bumpiest of the year.

'New challenge'

"In the past, I have had problems there, riding the Aprilia, which was stiff and difficult over the bumps.

"I am looking forward to the new challenge of riding the Proton there - it could be a lot better with the bike we have got.

"After my seventh at Brno I have given up worrying about fast tracks. We go all right on them. I am hoping for the same at Rio."

Marlboro Yamaha's Max Biaggi is more of a fan of the Brazilian circuit and hopes an upsurge in the team's fortunes can fire him to second place in the title standings.

Valentino Rossi has all but clinched the championship but his Repsol Honda team-mate Tohru Ukawa lies just 12 points clear of Biaggi in second.

'More competitive'

After a win and a second place for Yamaha in the last two races - the Italian is in confident mood.

"I felt that the new chassis was better at Estoril but we could not find the right front-end feeling," he said.

"There is no doubt that we are more competitive now and I feel we have the chance of another good race at Rio.

"The track is not so bad. It's fast and quite a lot of fun, but everything will depend on the state of the asphalt.

"Quite often the surface starts off pretty dirty, so it is not until final qualifying or even race day that the grip level is really good."