Rossi hits out at tyre restrictions

Riders are now limited to 14 front tyres and 17 rears per weekend, and have to put their choices into 'parc ferme' on Thursday evenings before practice.

Rossi has been used to a much wider range of tyres over previous seasons, and tended to make his race day compound choices after Friday practice.

"For sure the tyre regulation is more difficult," he said.

"The biggest difference is the balance between Michelin and Bridgestone. Last year Michelin had the advantage and this year with this regulation Bridgestone have the advantage.

"All the guys with Bridgestone are fast, so we have to work and recover because they have a good tyre from the first lap to the last lap. They are very consistent, so we have to recover."

He believes that the rule was introduced because Michelin had the capability to manufacture new tyre designs during GP weekends, whereas Bridgestone could not because their factory is in Japan.

"The problem started because Bridgestone don't want Michelin to make tyres during the weekend, but this rule also brings some other problems, so I think it's not a good rule for the future, but it's like this and it's the same for everybody," said Rossi.

"The biggest problem is making the tyre choice before going onto the track. At tracks where you test, or you know the surface, it's very easy, but when you arrive at a track like Le Mans (where testing had not taken place since the previous year's race) it's a lottery."

But Rossi denied that he was suggesting that championship leader Casey Stoner's success is due to the regulation change.

"For me Stoner would have won with the old rule," he said. "He wins because he rides well, Bridgestone are very fast and Ducati are very fast."

Rossi insists that the process of Michelin bringing tyres to the track overnight on Fridays and Saturdays in the past did not necessarily help him - as he often worked more on adjusting his bike to tyres already produced for the weekend.

"For me, sincerely, I never have a lot of advantage with the new tyres," he said.

"I always used normal tyres; not built overnight. Maybe sometimes, yes, but I remember Portugal and Valencia last year when the performance was not at the maximum."

He lost out to Toni Elias in Portugal last year, then had a costly fall in the Valencia title-decider and lost the championship to Nicky Hayden.

Michelin sources have confirmed that races were rarely won using 'overnight' tyres under the old rules.

Rossi believes the solution is to allow less restrictive tyre rules rather than switching to a single tyre supply.

"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."