Rossi expects difficult race

Although he was pleased to improve on his seventh place in practice, the former champion remained anxious about his race prospects, and rued an error on his final qualifying lap.

"We've improved a lot from yesterday so we managed to stay closer," Rossi told Italia1 television.

"Unfortunately I made a small mistake with the qualifying tyres, and with everyone so bunched up I missed out on the first row.

"We aren't that well sorted with the race tyres and set-up. We've done many tests, but we are yet to decide what to do for tomorrow.

"We have to decide what to do with the rear tyre, and then we'll see what to do with the set-up."

Rossi is also concerned that his Michelin tyres seem to take longer to get up to temperature than the rival Bridgestones.

"This is something we and the Michelin engineers are struggling to understand," he said.

"We need two or three laps to go quick, while the Bridgestones are very efficient from the first lap. This is something I had already noticed in previous races. Maybe they've found something different that works from the start."

He believes the problem could be rectified if Michelin were still allowed to bring in new compounds for race day, as had been the case prior to the tyre restrictions imposed for the 2007 season.

"The new rule was done because Bridgestone didn't want Michelin to be able to bring tyres over the weekend," Rossi said.

"So they had their rule done and took advantage from it.

"I liked (the rules) at the start, unlike for example (Loris) Capirossi who didn't then, but now it's getting really difficult to carry on this way, especially on tracks where we don't test.

"With these regulations I was hoping tyres would be less important, but maybe they've become even more important by contrast."

Rossi said that his ideal solution would to lift the tyre restrictions rather than impose a control tyre.

"In a world championship like ours, I'm sure Michelin wouldn't accept a single tyre," he said.

"The best thing would be to get back to how it was, because in a world championship there is a big technological battle where everyone should use the tyres he wants."

The Italian took comfort from the form of teammate Colin Edwards, who secured his first MotoGP pole position this afternoon.

"Colin is going really quick, he's been very fast in every session so that means the bike is working well," said Rossi.

"Let's hope we'll do a bit better tomorrow."