Rossi relaxed about fourth place

The world champion's final lap got him up from sixth to fourth, and though Rossi admitted that he still had to find more pace before race day, he is confident he will be able to fight at the front.

"Of course it would be better to be on the front row but fourth is okay and I'm very happy about how much we've improved since this morning," said Rossi.

"After [Dani] Pedrosa, the next five of us are all very close and this afternoon I was able to do some laps in the 39s with the harder Bridgestone tyre.

"We are fast now but we're still not consistent enough so we have to work on this for tomorrow."

He said the shoulder damage sustained in a recent motocross crash was not troubling him.

"My shoulder feels a lot better today and I have to say thank you to all of the Clinica Mobile and everyone who has worked on it," Rossi said. "I am still lacking a bit of strength but the pain is okay."

Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will start second. He had been fastest in final practice but lost out to Pedrosa's Honda in the fight for pole.

"I hoped to be as fast as the morning, but we struggled a little bit more in the afternoon with the high temperature," said Lorenzo. "I couldn't ride like I wanted.

"But anyway looking at that, the lap time is not so bad. It's a lap time that can fight for the victory, so I'm quite confident for tomorrow."