POLL: Who will win the 2015 MotoGP title?
Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo or Marc Marquez? CLICK HERE to vote!
The second half of the 2015 MotoGP season starts next weekend at Indianapolis with Valentino Rossi leading the championship by 13 points.
But who you think will be crowned world champion at the Valencia season finale on November 8?
Rossi's charge towards a tenth grand prix title has been built upon a perfect run of nine podium finishes, including three victories, which have kept him at the top of the championship since the Qatar season-opener.
But it is Movistar Yamaha team-mate and closest rival Jorge Lorenzo who has taken the most race wins. The Spaniard dominated four races in a row to rocket up the standings, before yielding some breathing room back to his team-mate at Assen and Sachsenring.
Lorenzo scored more points than any other rider during the second half of last season.
Meanwhile the biggest question mark regards reigning champion Marc Marquez. The Repsol Honda star is currently fourth in the championship and 65 points from Rossi after suffering three DNFs.
But if - as his results at the last two rounds suggest - the young Spaniard has got the rear of his RCV back under control, might he mount a remarkable title comeback?
Having won the championship in both his previous MotoGP seasons and undefeated in the opening ten rounds of last year, Rossi and Lorenzo have made clear they will never write off the #93, who has set the fastest lap at the last four grands prix.
But the maths remains daunting: Marquez needs to outscore Rossi by an average of 7.3 points per race to pass the Italian by the end of the season.
Four points in front of Marquez in the championship is Ducati's Andrea Iannone, whose team-mate Andrea Dovizioso has slipped to fifth. It's been a great start to his first factory Ducati season for Iannone, who has claimed a pair of podiums, while Dovizioso was runner-up four times in the opening five races.
But the GP15 is yet to achieve the target set by Ducati Corse General Manager Gigi Dall'Igna of at least one race win, and as such we haven't included the pair as title contenders at this stage.
Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo or Marc Marquez? CLICK HERE to vote - after which you will see the latest results - and explain your choice in the comments section below...
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 179
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 166
3. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 118
4. Marc Marquez (Honda) 114
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 87
6. Bradley Smith (Yamaha) 87
Race wins:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 4
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 3
3. Marc Marquez (Honda) 2
Podiums:
1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 9
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 5
=3. Marc Marquez (Honda) 4
=3. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 4
=5. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 2
=5. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2
7. Cal Crutchlow (Honda) 1
Fastest race lap:
1. Marc Marquez (Honda) 4
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 3
=3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1
=3. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1
Pole positions:
1. Marc Marquez (Honda) 4
=2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1
=2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1
=2. Andrea Iannone (Ducati) 1
=2. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) 1
=2. Aleix Espargaro (Suzuki) 1
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
