Rossi focused on second place

The Italian dropped to 85 points behind Casey Stoner due to his retirement last time out at Misano, and Rossi admits that with the Ducati rider being so strong, there is little chance of him making up the gap.

"We have five races left and we will be trying to win all five, even if the championship is out of our reach," said Rossi.

"We will put all our energies into holding our second place and winning as many races as possible."

Rossi believes that he could be in better shape for the next race at Estoril, after he came away from the post-race test in Italy feeling happier with his tyres.

"We did some really good work with Michelin," he added. "It seems that they found some good new tyres and overall it was quite and encouraging test, much more than the last one.

"Hopefully we will be ready in Estoril with a package with which we can fight. I've had some good races there in the past."