Rossi says not giving up on title

Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi is 44 points behind his Ducati rival with seven races remaining as the Italian bike, together with Bridgestone tyres, continues to prove the package to beat this season.

Following the summer break, MotoGP returns to action this weekend at Brno, where Rossi is aiming to bounce back from the disappointment of the United States Grand Prix.

"Of course Laguna was quite disappointing and it would have been nice to have been able to go into the summer break knowing we had closed the gap in the championship, but this sadly wasn't the case," said Rossi in a team preview.

"Laguna made many things quite clear about the situation that we're in this season and I know that many people at Yamaha and Michelin have been working very hard during this break in order to help us to be in better shape at the next race.

"Now I'm really looking forward to getting back onto the bike and doing the best we can to get back into the fight."

The Italian rider admits it will be difficult to beat Stoner in this year's championship, but the seven-time champion has vowed not to give up.

"Of course we know that the championship is going to be difficult, but we were in a worse situation at this time last year, with less races remaining, and we still managed to come back to lead the fight," he added.

"This time it will be very, very hard because Stoner is very strong and is not making mistakes, but we won't give up. I know my team, Yamaha and Michelin will continue to give 100% and we will fight at every one of the final seven races.

"Brno last year was the start of a turnaround in our fortunes so let's hope this is the case again this year."