Rossi calm about Stoner's Jerez times

The Fiat Yamaha rider saw Stoner finish the 40-minute session with a 1.3 seconds advantage - but said he was not upset at the margin between them.

"I'm happy, Yamaha have done a good job," Rossi said in an interview with Italian broadcaster Italia1. "The bike is easier to ride than last year, it's better balanced, so we've improved the riding.

"It looks like it goes quicker too: yesterday I was fairly ahead speed-wise, and the other Yamaha riders are happy too. So I think we finally have done a good job, and we are also expecting something new before the first race."

The relative competitiveness of the teams and riders was certainly mixed up by the changeable weather conditions, and Rossi thinks Yamaha still need to make improvements when it is wet.

"There's work to do because with these tyres the bike must be set-up completely differently. So we began with some tests in the dry and in the end in Malaysia we managed to be very quick in the dry, as we were in Jerez too, so we are close.

"Today was our first day in the wet so we had to start over again, but in the end I'm second so it isn't bad, even though to fight for the championship we must work a lot and keep focused for the entire season."

Stoner's confidence will have received a huge boost by his performance at Jerez, and Rossi is in no doubt he has to bring his rival's bullishness down a level or two.

"Of course. He fought and won that confidence on the track because he's going really quick and he's fast immediately in any condition. So, if we want to challenge him we'll all need to do a great job."