"Things went very well for us in Estoril - we've achieved our goal of coming here still fighting for the championship and for this I have to thank everyone in the team so much," said Rossi.

"Each person has worked at 100% to bring us back to this position and now we're all very excited about this final race.

"Of course it's not going to be like other times, when I have won the championship with some races to spare and less pressure. Now I only have one chance. It's a big pressure for everyone but it's great for the show.

For a man with 58 Moto GP wins, Rossi does not have the greatest of records at Valencia, with only two wins at the Spanish circuit, even though last year he put in a storming ride to third after starting 15th.

He knows that qualifying will be crucial and thinks that if he and his American team-mate Colin Edwards can start from the front row of the grid, then the race could go their way.

"Valencia isn't one of my best tracks and we also know that Hayden is really strong there, so it's definitely not going to be easy. On the other hand we know that the M1 works quite well there and in the race last year it was very good in the second half of the race especially.

"If we can start from the front then I think we can try for the win, but whatever happens it's going to be a really exciting race. Hopefully Colin and I can be at the front together like in Estoril and we'll just see what we can do!"