Nine-times world champion Valentino Rossi is not giving up on a tenth title just yet even though he has a 58-point gap to Marc Marquez going into this weekend’s Silverstone MotoGP round.

The Movistar Yamaha rider believes he has the potential to win more races and to win another big trophy but inconsistency in the opening half of the year has made it very difficult against the young Spaniard - who has become more of a thinker and less of a crasher in 2016.

“I have a great motivation because I want to try to win more races and to win the Championship because last year I was very very close. The feeling was very bad, because I think that the end of last year was not fair. The first two or three weeks it was hard but after the Rally of Monza I returned to racing and in that moment I was like, ‘OK, we forget’,” said The Doctor.

“You never forget, but you try to forget. The pressure and the energy that I gave last year was an extreme effort, because we arrived in the last race like this. And if you win, you recover some energy. If you lose, you don’t recover it. So, for me, I paid too much for last year.”

Rossi will now focus on his year race-by-race and try to take his opportunities where he can but the missed points from crashes and broken machinery may prove crucial in the final analysis.

“It’s a shame because I have the potential to fight for this Championship. Because I was unlucky, and also because of my mistakes we are too far now from the top. If in Mugello the bike had not broken; if in Assen it had not rained I was very strong; if in Sachsenring it had not rained I could have fought for the victory… But if, if, if…

“We have the potential but unfortunately we don’t have enough points. So the target for the next races is to try staying at this level but especially try to bring home more points. With this amount of disadvantage, you cannot think about the future. I will try to do the maximum race by race but, you know, in the sport it’s never finished until it’s finished. So if we give up now, it’s better to stay at home.”