Rossi and Hayden fears Ducatis

Valentino Rossi believes he and pole-sitter Nicky Hayden will have to make a quick break for it to avoid an all-out attack from the Ducatis in tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix.

Ducati riders Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau could only manage 12th and 13th on the grid in what was one of their worst performances of the season as their Bridestone tyres failed to perform on the day.

But five-time world champion Rossi, 27, who will start from third on his Yamaha, believes that the Italian machines will be totally different in the race if their riders can start well.

He said: “I'm surprised that Capirossi and Gibernau are so far back because they have got a very strong race pace so I suppose me and Nicky will be pushing hard from the start to try and escape.”

Rossi himself was happy with the performance of his bike, but thinks that his team will have to make some serious set-up changes overnight if he i sto have a chance to win the race and close the 26-point gap to Hayden in the championship.

He added: The team did a really good job today because we had some difficulties setting the bike up yesterday, but today it worked really well and I was able to qualify on the front row.

“Because of the temperatures here we are finding it hard to get heat into the rear tyre and we struggled a bit again today, which is why I had to leave it so late before trying for the fast time on the qualifying tyre.

“We still have some work to do in this aspect on the race setting but with the qualifying tyre the grip was there and I was able to go third fastest, even though I ran off the track on my out lap.”