Rossi upbeat for upcoming races

With six races in eight weekends, starting this weekend at Mugello, the championship enters a crucial phase.

With the Italian GP at Mugello this weekend, MotoGP will then move on to the Catalan GP at Barcelona next week. After a weekend off, the teams will then reconvene in the UK at Donington before arriving in Holland.

"Six races, especially four of the best Grand Prix in a row," Rossi told reporters today.

"Mugello, Barcelona are the best Grands Prix for me for the atmosphere and for the race track, and also Donington and Assen, so it's an important part of the season, but the season is very long."

The Yamaha rider is second in the MotoGP standings behind Australian Casey Stoner, but he has been the undisputed master of the Tuscan circuit.

Rossi has scored five consecutive wins at Mugello in MotoGP, and he has also won once in 125cc and again in 250cc.

The last time he didn't win a premier class race at Mugello was at the very wet 2001 edition, when Alex Barros won. Rossi fell from third on the very last lap.

Despite having been dominant in the past, Rossi is expecting tough competition from both Stoner and Ducati teammate Loris Capirossi.

"It's a special Grand Prix for me and all the Italian riders," said Rossi, 21 points behind Stoner. "The atmosphere is very hot, there's a lot of fans so it's a great emotion to ride here. It's a great track, one of the most difficult of the whole season with many up and down chicanes.

"It's an important GP for sure with many epic battles like last year with Loris. This year Casey is doing a fantastic work so I expect him to be there, but Loris too."

Rossi insisted this year's tyre rules are making it harder for him to compete with the Bridgestone-shod Ducatis, with the Japanese manufacturer having coped better with the changes than rivals Michelin.

"I was very happy at the beginning, as last year we sometimes had some confusion with the new tyres during the weekend, but race by race it's become harder with this new rules," he added.

"Bridgestone is better to work like this because they have more experience in the last two or three years than Michelin so now they have a small advantage, but Michelin are very good so we need to understand the way to make the tyre choice."