Valentino Rossi just missed the MotoGP Misano podium yesterday but because Fabio Quartararo crashed out, he is now only 18 points behind new leader Andrea Dovizoso.

Rossi believes he can genuinely fight for the title if he can find a little more pace and that anything can happen in this year’s championship fight.

“It’s starting to get interesting I have to go a little faster to fight for the championship, but if I finished second today I would only be 10 or 11 points behind the first,” said Rossi, speaking at the track.

“We are all close and there is no clear favourite because everyone has their problems. I’m only 18 points behind and I have to try to do my best and not give up, because this year really anything can happen.

“During the race I suffered a little with the front and the rear. Franco was better than me and he was able to pull away.

“I think that we can improve three or four things for next week, when we‘ll have another chance. This makes me even more happy, because we can try again.

As Rossi and team-mate Maverick Vinales rolled on to the grid, they were both equipped with the hard Michelin rear but Rossi changed to the medium with ten minutes left before the lights went out, and this made the difference.

“Maverick is great in the qualifying. Also during the tests, he’s always able to do the hot lap. I always suffer compared to Maverick in qualifying. He’s more or less always in front of me. But usually, my best performance is Sunday afternoon. This is very good for me.

“But in this case for example, there is a technical difference. Maverick started with the hard rear tyre. I also wanted to start with the hard. It worked very well. The medium was more of a risk in today’s race. But ten mins before I speak with my team, I change and put the medium. For me this made the difference today.”