Updated Aug 29, 2015 at 6:15p ET
Editor's note: Coverage of Round 12 of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship will kick off from Silverstone Circuit in England at 7:30 a.m. ET Sunday on FOX Sports 1. Here are five things to watch during the race:
Valentino Rossi - "I need to beat Lorenzo"
The title fight starts here and Valentino Rossi knows it. He is level on 211 points with the man he fears most on an identical Yamaha M1, Jorge Lorenzo. "It is more important to try and beat Jorge rather than Marquez," Rossi admitted after qualifying fourth. Rossi has finished behind Lorenzo at the last three races and he needs to reverse the trend at Silverstone and smother the momentum of his teammate.
Marquez vs. Lorenzo
A year ago at Silverstone there was titanic battle for the race win between Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo with Marquez taking a narrow victory. Based on qualifying and practice pace a repeat of that tense squabble is on the cards for the 2015 race. There has long been an edgy rivalry between this Spanish pair and the fast, wide open space of the 3.6-mile Silverstone circuit brings out the best in both.
A British Podium
It's been 15 years since a British rider finished on the podium at home in a premier class grand prix. That was Jeremy McWilliams on an Aprilia in 2000, who was third in a race won by Valentino Rossi on a Honda. This was the first of Rossi's 85 premier class wins to date. Three home heroes will try to end the long podium absence - Bradley Smith, Scott Redding and Cal Crutchlow. Each is a Silverstone expert, and will all have the partisan support of a massive home crowd.
Marc Marquez - The Joker
Marquez is now racing without fear or pressure and is just pushing to the limit for race wins. And a mischievous Marquez likes the idea that he is the joker in the pack for the title fight. His sensational record breaking pole position lap at Silverstone puts him a position to begin to torment both Yamaha riders and get in the middle of their title fight. It is a strange twist with Honda ace Marquez likely to influence which of the two Yamaha riders wins the championship.
Scott Redding - Ducati Beckons
On the eve of confirming his dramatic switch to the Pramac Ducati team for next year, British star Scott Redding is targeting his best result of a troubled season on a factory Honda. Redding needs to finish sixth or better to beat his seventh place at the Catalunya GP. An unhappy season aboard a Honda with the Marc VDS team has convinced Redding that he must make a big change if he is to show his full potential as a rider.
