Former MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi says he is glad to be back on top of the World MotoGP standings, but he knows in-form Aussie Casey Stoner is increasingly posing an obstacle to his chances of winning a sixth championship title.Fiat Yamaha's Rossi may have defied Sachsenring's rainy conditions on his way to coming second in the German grand prix, but he could not deny Ducati rider Stoner, who took advantage of race leader Dani Pedrosa's fall to hold off Rossi and win his third GP in a row.
For Rossi, the 20 points from coming second saw him move to 187 points in the world title race as he overtook second-placed Spaniard Pedrosa, who remained on 171 after his fall meant he did not finish.
But Stoner's timely run of form has seen the Australian leap into third position with 167 points and move to within one race win of overhauling Rossi.
It's hardly been plain sailing for Stoner this season, however, as he attempts to defend his 2007 World Championship, but Rossi reckons Ducati has got its bike right for another real crack at the title and this is starting to concern the Italian.
"Sincerely, at the moment, we need to think about how to catch Casey because he has been very fast now for a few races," said Rossi.
"Once again, here we lost some time during the practice trying to find the right setting and we can't afford to keep doing this."
"Today we started from the third row and this meant that I had to deal with some confusion at the start and lost some time on the front riders."
"By the time I got behind Casey my M1 was working very well and I had very good grip with my Bridgestone rain tyres; I felt very confident and I tried hard to push but there was no way to catch him at that stage, so our aim must be to start at the front from now on," said the Italian after failing to chase down Stoner for most of the race.
Rossi, however, was satisfied to have finished second and said he is aiming to extend his lead over Stoner when the pair face off in the United States at Laguna Seca next round.
"Now we are back in front and this is a very good feeling," said Rossi. "(But) we have to try to extend this lead in Laguna."
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images
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