In Malaysia the rider chosen to replace Valentino Rossi in the official HRC team will begin to assess his chances of winning world title, a championship that he wants to win more than ever to give him some pride and to silence the criticism� after Valentino Rossi left. He has recovered from an operation on his shoulder and has been released from his contract with Altadis Yamaha, and so Barros will be the centre of attention after Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau shared the limelight at the latest training sessions for the company at Sepang Malaysia, before Rossi and his new team mates disembarked there.

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�lex Barros knows that this is perhaps his last opportunity to fight for the World Championship, not only because of his age and experience, but because his team mate Nicky Hayden is one of the great hopes for the future at Honda. But in 2004 if somebody is going to have a chance of winning it is the Brazilian. His good results at the end of the 2002 season, when they gave him the same moto as Valentino Rossi in last the four races of the World Championship, prove his talent: he won two races and got onto the podium in four, although you should remember that Valentino had already made sure of the title.

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The training sessions� at Sepang next week will be a good venue to check the level of both Barros and Rossi since they will coincide on the track, along with the Ducati team. It will be worth seeing.