Valentino Rossi: I had no rhythm in Brno MotoGP defeat

Rossi maintained his perfect record of podium finishes in 2015 with third at Brno on Sunday, but was not a factor despite starting on the front row of the grid for just the second time this year.

He lost places to Bradley Smith and Andrea Dovizioso off the line, and was two seconds behind Lorenzo and Marquez by the time he was back into third by the end of the second lap.

The gap continued to grow and he finished 10s behind team-mate Lorenzo, and six behind Honda's Marquez.

"I'm a little bit disappointed, because I expected a better race and better pace from me," he said.

"With Jorge, it's difficult, because through all of the weekend he was very strong, but I expected to be faster and to stay closer to Jorge and to fight with Marc.

"But unfortunately that didn't happen.

"I was too far behind, the start was not fantastic and I lost a bit of time, but more than the start, I had no rhythm.

"I wasn't fast enough and for some reason I wasn't able to make the pace of [Saturday].

"I expected a little bit more, because starting from the front row you expect to stay closer."

With his fifth win of the season, Lorenzo drew level with Rossi at the top of the MotoGP championship, and the Italian admits he will need to lift his game to win an eighth top-flight title.

"It's unbelievable that after 11 races we have identical points," he said.

"Jorge after the summer break has come back in fantastic shape and done two fantastic races, also in Indy because he fought with Marc until the last lap.

"I know that for a fight with him for the championship, to arrive in Valencia fighting for the championship, I have to be stronger and try to go faster."