Doohan says 2016 "looking increasingly" like Rossi’s year

Rossi heads into this weekend's Sachsenring round 42 points behind championship leader Marc Marquez, having taken wins at Jerez and Barcelona but also failing to score at Austin, Mugello and Assen.

Nonetheless, Doohan believes that the speed Rossi has shown, twinned with the superiority of the Yamaha M1 over the Honda RC213V, gives 'The Doctor' every chance of closing the deficit in the remaining 10 races.

"Whichever way you look at it, Rossi is still extremely quick," Doohan told Motorsport.com. "I think this year is looking increasingly like a Rossi year, to be honest, even though he’s trailing a bit.

"If he can remain consistent and stay out of trouble, he’s got a good shot.

"Lorenzo doesn’t seem to me that he’s adapting the Michelin tyre as well as Rossi, who has some experience with how it operates from way back when."

MotoGP championship standings:

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Points
1	Marc Marquez	Honda	145
2	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	121
3	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	103
4	Dani Pedrosa	Honda	86
5	Maverick Vinales	Suzuki	79
6	Pol Espargaro	Tech 3 Yamaha	72
7	Hector Barbera	Avintia Ducati	58
8	Andrea Iannone	Ducati	52

Doohan did however express the admiration for the job that Marquez has done so far in 2016 on a Honda clearly lacking compared to the Yamaha.

"He’s clearly a very talented rider," added the five-time 500cc champion. "The bike may not be the best out there, but he’s doing a great job.

"For some reason or other they seem to have lost some ground on Yamaha, but equally Yamaha have two very talented riders in Lorenzo and Rossi, so development for them should be fairly straightforward with the feedback that those two guys are providing.

"Whether or not Honda are reacting as quickly as they ought to to the way that Yamaha have come out this season, they seem to have speed and agility and the whole package, with the riders.

"So it’s tough for Honda at the moment, but Marquez is pushing as hard as he possibly can. And he’s right in the mix at the moment, because there have been a few people making mistakes."

Interview by Andrew van Leeuwen