Rossi: Stoner deserves the title

Stoner clinched his first championship by finishing sixth at Motegi today, while Rossi had to make an additional pit stop due to tyre problems and fell from a possible second place to 13th.

"We always fought, but we had a little bit of problems, so at the end we are second," Rossi said.

"It's not bad, but it was a difficult season for us.

"Great congratulations to Ducati and to Stoner. I'm very happy for him, and at the end I think they deserve it."

Rossi said he and Yamaha had missed too many opportunities during 2007. While Stoner finished in the top six at every race, Rossi crashed out in Germany and had an engine failure at Misano.

"I regret my mistake at the Sachsenring in a difficult race, especially because all the Bridgestones had some problems," he said.

"The engine broke one time and the other bike (Ducati) never broke so we lost another race. Also we had some problems in these half and half races like France and like here.

"So for sure it was possible to make it better. Stoner never made any mistakes and is always competitive, so congratulations."

He hopes he can finish the season on a high by winning some of the remaining three races - and believes he stands a strong chance of beating Stoner on the new champion's home ground at Phillip Island next month.

"It's not impossible," Rossi. "Michelin made a good step here, especially in the dry. Me and Dani (Pedrosa) were faster and I think today in normal conditions it would have been a battle between me and him to win the race, so why not in Phillip Island?"

Rossi added that he was proud of the way he had responded to adversity this season.

"We never gave up and we always fought at the maximum even when the situation was desperate," he said. "This is the most important thing after winning."