Rossi aims to bounce back in Australia

The Yamaha rider was never in contention for victory in Estoril, despite team-mate Jorge Lorenzo dominating the race with the same bike.

Rossi says his team has been hard at work to understand the reasons for his struggle, and he is looking to bounce back at Phillip Island.

"Estoril was a great disappointment but we have to look at the positive and consider that we still came fourth and took 13 points in these conditions," said Rossi. "I know that Yamaha have been studying the data very hard to understand what went wrong for us, and we hope that the situation in Phillip Island will be very different.

"I love this track and have some of the greatest memories of my career there and I really want to be in the best shape for this race. It's too long since I've won there!

"I think that the championship is going to be a great fight to the end with Lorenzo, but the next two tracks especially are two of my best."

Lorenzo, now 18 points behind Rossi in the championship, says his target for the weekend is to secure second place in the standings.

"I am very happy after my fourth victory this year and now my target is to confirm second place in the championship in Australia," Lorenzo said. "I have the chance if I get a lot of points. This has been my aim all year and I will fight to get it as soon as possible.

"Phillip Island is a track that I love, it's always special to race there and in my opinion it's the most beautiful circuit in the Championship, along with Mugello. You are riding at 250 km/h but you can still see the sea and the birds, it's incredible!

"Last year I couldn't get the on the podium but I will always remember 2007, when I won with 20 seconds gap. All my team is confident and determined to get more good results in these two important weeks."