Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi has admitted he couldn't live with Casey Stoner's pace at Losail last night and after pushing hard for seven laps had to settle for the points.
The multiple MotoGP World Champion said that he needed to get away with Stoner at the start to have a chance against the Aussie but got tangled up in a scrap with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Loris Capirossi.
"I knew I needed a good start in order to go with Stoner but unfortunately I didn’t get one and I lost some time fighting with Lorenzo and Capirossi and by then Stoner had already gone," said The Doctor.
"The middle part of the race was great fun and I made six or seven good laps to come much closer, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to continue in that rhythm, it was too risky for the tyres and I decided it was more important to take the 20 points. Casey was very strong today but he is always fast here and I believe that our potential is very good; I think that we can be back fighting again in Motegi."
