Burgess says Rossi still a class apart

Yamaha made several major technical and organisational changes for this season at Rossi's request after losing the 2006 and 2007 titles, including the company's executive development officer Masao Furosawa attending more races to keep the MotoGP project moving forward.

Burgess said the team had to do whatever they could to take advantage of the opportunities Rossi's presence offered them.

"We had to not waste the talent that is Valentino Rossi," said Burgess. "There may not be another Valentino Rossi for another twenty years and even then there is no certainty he'll be on a Yamaha either."

Rossi is now on 96 Grand Prix victories, with his next major goal being 123 wins to beat Giacomo Agostini's absolute record.

"We have three races remaining this season and another two seasons so in all there are another 39 races remaining to win another 27 races," Burgess continued.

"Valentino is 29 years old, so he has time as Mick (Doohan) was winning races at 32 years old and Ago was winning when 35 years old.

"Valentino had a very good schooling from his parents and with his upbringing. He's calm and doesn't easily get upset nor flustered and that is why we can make some major changes on Sunday morning before the race.

"From my side I just don't need to worry about Valentino. He motivates himself. He's still a couple ranks above the others. He proved that in 2004 (when Rossi moved from Honda to Yamaha and continued his title-winning streak)."