Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi says he has to close the gap on championship rival Casey Stoner during qualifying at the Motegi MotoGP round this weekend if he is to stay with him when the lights go out.

Rossi won the 2008 World Championship at Motegi right at the end of last season and although he has had some poor performances at the Japanese track, he is looking to stop Stoner before he starts on Sunday.

"In Qatar we had one or two small areas that could have been better, so we will be trying hard to improve our setting during the practice time so that we’re able to run at the front on Sunday," said The Doctor.

"I expect that Stoner will be strong again, so we just need to reduce the gap to him so that we can put up more of a fight. In the past Motegi hasn’t been a great track for me and I’ve had some bad races there, but I think last year cancelled that all out so I hope it can be successful for us once again this year.”