Sepang test pace a boost for Rossi

The Italian delivered a step forward in pace with both his single lap qualifying efforts, and his long run form, to leave him fairly upbeat about his chances of fighting for the title with reigning champion Stoner.

Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport after setting further impressive times on his final day of running, Rossi said: "If we want to fight with Stoner for the championship we must go like this, because he (Stoner) and his Ducati are going really quick and we can't lag behind.

"In January, Stoner was quicker than us, even if for just eight laps. On top of that, this time the conditions were more favourable and here we've tested for six days, while the Ducati only for three. So let's not get carried away. But it was nice..."

Stoner's Ducati Marlboro team chose to skip this week's Sepang test, but will go head-to-head with Rossi again during the official MotoGP test at Jerez later this month.