MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi believes the 2015 season has been his most difficult so far as the level of competition is so high and there have been, for a majority of the year, five or six bikes able to compete for the podium.

The Doctor leads team-mate Jorge Lorenzo by 18 points going into this weekend’s Phillip Island round but is aware how fast the Spaniard is and also how strongly Dani Pedrosa has come back to form in the last two races, taking a podium and a win.

Rossi knows that even if Lorenzo wins the next three races, he only has to follow him home in second to claim a tenth world title but also has to contend with the pace of the Repsol Hondas.

“From the start of the season, there have been six fighting for the win or at least the podium. For example, in the last races, Pedrosa come back very strong, beat me in Aragon on the last lap and I lose four points to Jorge and Motegi, he was able to win. Also Marquez ans the two Ducatis are very strong so you have to be at 100 per cent as it is easy to lose a lot of points,” said Rossi, speaking at Phillip Island.

“Every year is a story but this is more balanced. It is still completely open with three races to go so is the most difficult, yes.”