RIDERS: Valentino Rossi (20m) has four premier-class victories under his belt at Sepang and the already-crowned world champion has a record of five wins and one second-place finish in his last six grands prix: only a fool would bet against him.
Casey Stoner (20m) won the last round in Australia, his home race, from Rossi - but at the same price we would stay with the Italian.
Nicky Hayden's (16m) tail is up after three good finishes as he bids to leave Repsol Honda on a high: there will be a focus on the team's garage in Malaysia after Dani Pedrosa's manager Alberto Puig said the American used to copy the Spaniard as he "never knew how to set up a bike".
Pedrosa (19m) is now looking very unlikely to finish second in the World Championship as Stoner has a 36-point advantage with just two races to come, but expect him to fight all the way after securing his first podium since switching to Bridgestone tyres in the previous round in Japan. He crashed out on the first lap at Phillip Island.
The other rider on the grid to have a Sepang victory in his career is Loris Capirossi, who triumphed in 2005; he is doing okay on the Rizla Suzuki, but not worth the 17m outlay.
Who would have thought that JiR Team Scot's sole rider Andrea Dovizioso (10.5m) would have such a stunning debut season in MotoGP? He is one of the few riders to have finished out of the points only once in 2008 - the sole competitor to take something away from every race is Rossi.
The only reason you would not pick Dovizioso is because you have enough funds to choose another superb rookie, Rossi's Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo (13m), instead: the Spaniard is back in form with second-, third- and two fourth-place finishes in the last four races, and set to pip the Italian to fourth in the riders' standings and the rookie of the year prize.
Outside these, the best bets are Colin Edwards (17m) of Yamaha Tech 3 and Shinya Nakano (14.5m) of Honda Gresini - both are consistent without being brilliant.
TEAM: Fantasy advocates going with factory outfit Yamaha (11m), who are the fourth most expensive squad despite boasting Rossi and Lorenzo in their ranks. Avoid Ducati Marlboro (12.5m) as they have a dud in Marco Melandri - although he took a podium finish in 2007. The other team which could be worth a shot are Repsol Honda (12m) - if Hayden and Pedrosa do not take each out in a fit of pique.
MANUFACTURER: Yamaha (7.5m) are the sensible choice here as they have recorded a possible total of 145 points for you guys this season, while Ducati (9m) and Honda (8m) are the other options with 120 and 110 points each in 2008 respectively.
TYRES: Bridgestone (7.5m) took the top two spots in Australia, but Michelin (7m) finished third and fourth and all six of their riders ended the race in the top nine.
No comments:
Post a Comment