Rossi aims to carry momentum

The Italian scored his first victory of the season at Shanghai and hopes his good form will continue in France, where he feels he was unfortunate not to win last season.

"Last year Le Mans was incredibly disappointing for us," he said. "We were hoping for a good result in the dry, but the rain came and things didn't go as planned.

"This year, however, we're going there on a high after the fantastic result in China and I'm confident we can have a good weekend.

"Yamaha usually go very well at Le Mans and, although it's the first time we've been there with Bridgestone, I'm confident we'll be strong there. I'm nine points from the top of the championship but our rivals are very motivated too, so there's no let-up and we must go for the maximum points again."

Rossi is keen to make the most of his victory at Shanghai, which was his first in eight races since September last year, with a run of seven races in nine weeks beginning in France this weekend.

"China was a very important boost for everyone, and a great result for all the hard work that everyone has put in so far this season to get us to this point," he added. "Now we have to make the most of this moment and keep pushing like this.

"This is the start of the busiest phase of the championship and it's always hard work but also great fun. Let's hope we can get this run of races off to the best possible start in France."