Valentino Rossi looking to end Casey Stoner’s revival

Valentino Rossi believes he can halt the momentum gathered by reigning world champion Casey Stoner in the 2008 MotoGP title fight.

Stoner is currently in superlative form having surged to three successive race wins that have catapulted the Aussie firmly back into contention to retain his crown.
Factory Ducati rider Stoner has clawed 30-points back on Rossi in the last three races, but Rossi believes he can cope with the onslaught.

Looking ahead to this Sunday’s American GP at Laguna Seca, where Rossi has never won in three previous attempts, the Fiat Yamaha rider told MCN: “In the last races Casey has done a great job and he is very fast and now we have to stay concentrated.

“But our situation is a lot more positive than last year. It’s always difficult when you have to follow and you have to race sometimes with not enough speed, but a difficult period for my career was last year. Now I have fun and I like to ride the bike, and in the team we have a good atmosphere to make the best and we hope it is enough.

“But the championship is long, and we saw at the start of the season that the Ducati was slower than us. Now it is faster so it is possible to work and to bridge the gap to fight with Stoner and with (Dani) Pedrosa to the last race. Now we suffer a little bit but we have the potential to come back to the top.”

Rossi said it was vital he stopped Stoner’s revival, as Laguna is the first in a sequence of three races where Stoner dominated in 2007.

Brno and Misano follow Sunday’s 32-lap Laguna Seca showdown and Rossi added: “This moment of the season is difficult for us because we go to three tracks where Stoner last year made some great races, so this is a tough part of the season. But we have a good advantage in the points and quite good speed.”