World champion Valentino Rossi, who has won the last three MotoGPs, will try to make it four in a row at his most successful track this weekend.
With six victories from six starts at Rio's Nelson Piquet track, the 25-year-old Italian has every reason to be confident he can beat top rival Sete Gibernau and open out a lead in the title race.
"Rio is a special track for me. I think I've had the most wins of my career there," the official MotoGP Web site quoted Rossi as saying on Thursday.
The flamboyant rider, famous for his elaborate post-race celebrations, acknowledged it was "incredible" to be leading the championship so soon after switching to Yamaha from Honda, for whom he won the last three world titles.
Rossi and Gibernau have the same number of points in the title chase, though the Italian leads on account of winning more races.
While the struggle between the Honda and Yamaha riders is expected to be the highlight of the weekend, others expected to push the top two include Max Biaggi, Carlos Checa, Marco Melandri and home favorite Alex Barros.
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