"Lorenzo to spoil Rossi's party?"

Jorge Lorenzo of counting 94 points is the highest score after five races by a novice and whatever the outcome in Italy this weekend the 21-year-old plans to make more history as the youngest pilot ever to reach the milestone of 100 grand prix starts.

The 21-year-old continues to recover from fractures ankle sustained in Shanghai on May 2 but, having scored a magnificent second behind Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi last time at Le Mans, Lorenzo could be a good contestant to end six years of dominance Rossi in Mugello Sunday.

"I have to be really grateful for the fact that I have recovered so quickly from my injuries and have had such great professionals ensuring that was the case," said Jorge. "Obviously we're still not going to be at 100% of Mugello, but with each race that passes I am able to put more weight on the footrest. "I'm going to Italy with high hopes because it is one of my favourite circuits, with lots of quick and smooth corners. We have some tracks coming favourable, but we can not rely too much on that because in sport, especially in motorcycle racing, you never know what can happen. "This is a special race for me because it will be my hundredth appearance in the world championship. Ido Has everything very fast and if I never get to 200 then I hope it goes just as fast - would mean that I'm having so much fun as I have so far and hopefully I have helped fans enjoy too! "Lawrence added, at present only three points and Rossi on an equal footing with Dani Pedrosa.

"This is George's 100th Grand Prix, which is an incredible achievement for their age, but knowing that it simply focused on collecting more information, learning from his bike and continue their education in MotoGP," said Team manager Daniele Romagnoli.

"He still is not in the best physical shape so it will not be easy, but we have seen at Le Mans its ability to react and cope with difficult times. The team also are learning and I am delighted with the way they have also done.



Rossi plots magnificent seventh.

Valentino Rossi is aiming to score an incredible seventh home victory in succession, during this weekend's Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Even during his struggles of the past two seasons, Rossi has still risen to the occasion to hand his adoring home fans the victory they crave around the flowing Tuscan circuit - and arrives for the 2008 event on the back of Yamaha's most successful start ever to a MotoGP World Championship.

M1 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.
Meanwhile, back-to-back victories for Rossi mean that for the first time in over a year the Italian legend leads the world championship, although just three points separate him from rookie team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, who is tied on points with Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

But Rossi's record at his home race is second to none, with an unbeaten run of six wins in MotoGP to add to victories in each of the 125cc and 250cc classes. "Le Mans was fantastic and I am still feeling very happy when I think about it!" said Rossi of his 90th grand prix victory.

"We had a good test afterwards and did a lot of hard work with Bridgestone and on the general setting of our bike, so hopefully we have been able to improve our package even further. "Everyone knows that Mugello is one of my favourite tracks; I've won there six times in a row and now I want to make it seven!" he declared.

"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!" he smiled.