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The World Championship starts in Brazil its extra-european journey
With five races left and 125 points at stake, Valentino Rossi is the only rider that may become World Champion in Brazil
 It will all depend on what Valentino and his team-mate Tour Ukawa manage to do at the Rio Grand Prix. The 89 points separating them in the overall classification mean that, if Rossi wins next Saturday in Rio, Ukawa will have to finish among the three fastest if he doesnt want Valentino to be crowned World Champion in the MotoGP class. The excellent season of the young Repsol Honda Team rider, with nine victories and one second place, have lead to this comfortable situation for him with five races left to finish the 2002 season. But things wont be easy for Rossi in Rio; the Yamahas have proven to have made a big step forward with regard to competitiveness, and Kato, on his new Honda, is also capable of riding very fast on a dry track. If the weather respects the World Championships visit of the Carioca circuit, we may have a highly contended race on Saturday. The same thing will happen in the quarter of a litre class, where Fonsi Nieto and Marco Melandri are fighting for the title. Nietos victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix did not have a great reward on the overall standings, since Fonsi only managed to make up 5 points with regard to Melandri, but it was very important for both riders spirit. Despite crashing while trying to catch up with the leader and being overtaken by the Italian rider, Fonsi Nieto recovered from the seventh position, passed Melandri and finally took the victory. Breaking the series of six consecutive victories and showing his strength despite adverse conditions may be the first step to put pressure on Melandri and reduce differences in the overall classification. And while Fonsi Nieto fights for the title with Melandri, his team-mate Toni Elias continues with his personal adaptation and learning process in the class. Three crashes at the Portuguese Grand Prix, a Grand Prix marked by rain showers, were not enough to stop the Repsol riders will and energy. After each of the crashes, Elias stood up, took his bike and went on fighting. Far behind of any group of riders, Elias crossed the finish line thirteenth, thus getting three points for his personals score. In Portugal, Toni Elias gave a proof of dignity and professionalism. In the 125cc, after the results of the Portuguese Grand Prix, things have become complicated both for Dani Pedrosa and Manuel Poggiali. The reason for it is the Frenchman Arnaud Vincent who, after winning in Portugal and watching how Pedrosa and Poggiali crashed under the rain, has managed to get a more than interesting advantage that will make the rest of the season extremely exciting. Poggialis retirement favoured Pedrosa, who finished tenth despite his crash, thus reducing the differences with Poggiali to only five points. And while Pedrosa is still immersed in his particular fight for the title with Poggiali and Vincent, his team-mate Joan Olivé will try to get back the luck that left him during the last two races. He crashed again in Portugal on the first laps second lap of the race -, what hindered him from getting points and set him back in the overall classification, where he is twelfth and out of the top ten, for the moment.