Valentino Rossi says Jorge Lorenzo's MotoGP pace is "bad news"

Although Rossi started the season with the upper hand at Yamaha, with Lorenzo unable to get on the podium in the first three races, the Spaniard's run of three wins at Jerez, Le Mans and Mugello has left him just six points behind Rossi in the title race.

Lorenzo dominated the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, leading by as much as eight seconds at one stage, while Rossi had to settle for third after qualfiying only eighth.

"The form of Jorge is bad news for me," said Rossi. "He is very fast.

"In the first part of the season, I was stronger, but now Jorge is coming back at an incredible pace.

"He is the only one who can ride at the maximum of the bike and take all the potential from the bike."

Rossi said he is struggling to find a set-up that makes him as comfortable on the Yamaha as Lorenzo now is.

"This [Mugello] race was similar to Jerez for me," he said. "We tried to find a good set-up to go as fast as Jorge, but we never did.

"We tried to improve for the race but it was not enough and in the first part of the race I was very slow."

Lorenzo, who was 29 points behind Rossi after the third grand prix of the season in Argentina, said he now feels the championship is achievable but does not want to get complacent.

"It's still very soon to say we are going to win or we are going to keep this level, because the championship is very long still," he said.

"But five victories [for Yamaha] out of six races - that means something.

"We did a great job these past races to recover points, but [at the next race, Barcelona] everything can happen.

"I could lose points, I could finish behind Valentino, behind the Ducatis or [Marc] Marquez, so we have to keep our feet on the ground, keep working.

"This could be our year and we have to take profit."