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Sepang, Malaysia. Valentino Rossi is on course to lift his seventh premier-class title at this weekend’s Malaysian GP, going into the race with a 38-point advantage in the world championship race.

A top-four ride in Sepang, south of Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday will be enough for the 30-year-old Italian to be crowned the 2009 world champion.

Rossi, fresh from finishing second in Australia last weekend, has sweet memories of victories in Sepang.

“Phillip Island was like gold dust for us in terms of points, and now we go to Malaysia, another of my favorite tracks,” he said. “Of course anything can happen, but it’s a great track for me and generally the Yamaha works well there, so we have a good chance.

“There is no chance to relax — everyone is focused, motivated and excited now that we are at this stage, and our No. 1 target for the weekend is to try to close out the championship.”

Rossi has a history of good form in the heat of Malaysia, where he won from second on the grid last year and has seven podium finishes in total, including five wins.

Second place at the Australian Grand Prix extended his lead at the top of the world championship standings to 270 points after title rival and Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo’s first-lap crash.

The Spaniard’s inability to complete the race means that even if he wins at Sepang, Rossi only needs to finish fourth to take his ninth world title across all classes. Lorenzo is second with 232 points.

He is the only rider who can stop the Italian from taking the title here, but there is also interest in the battle for the third place.

Dani Pedrosa was overtaken by Australian Casey Stoner at Phillip Island, whose win on home soil handed the Ducati Marlboro rider third place in the standings at the expense of the Spaniard.

“Sepang will definitely be a tough race as being fast and consistent in those conditions is always difficult regardless,” said Stoner, in his third race back after injury.

“It is not easy to find the perfect set-up there, but that’s always been the case, and with every day that passes I feel stronger and more confident that I can be competitive in both of the two races that remain.”

Agence France-Presse