Rossi expects Ducati to be "the bike to beat" in Austria

The Spielberg venue's layout, which is made largely of long straights and slow corners, played into the hands of Ducati in 2016, who took a one-two finish with Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso.

It was the Italian manufacturer's first victory since Casey Stoner took his final win for the team in 2010.

Yamaha rider Rossi reckons that, despite the often-changing nature of MotoGP this year, Ducati will still be the strongest bike at the Red Bull Ring, and tips former teammate Jorge Lorenzo to be strong.

"Very difficult to say because this year it changes a lot, every race track, but I consider the Ducati the bike to beat here, like last year," said the Italian.

"I hope that we can be a bit closer but Dovizioso is always very strong and also in the race in Brno he was very fast.

"Also Lorenzo for sure, this weekend can be a good chance for him to try to win and we keep the maximum because also in the test on Monday he was very strong on the pace.

"And also [Pramac rider Danilo] Petrucci, he is fast and can fight for sure for the podium."

Dovizioso insists Ducati win not certain

On the other hand, Dovizioso reckons that, despite his team being more competitive in 2017 than last year, it won't necessarily have the same advantage it enjoyed in 2016 at the Red Bull Ring.

"Everyone thinking about us for the race is really positive, but we have to keep our feet on the ground because this situation is a little bit different and things have changed," said Dovizioso.

"I believe this year we are more competitive overall, but if we think about this track, I have a question mark, how much and if we have an advantage compared to last year.

"I expect a very competitive Yamaha, and for sure Honda compared to last year will be much stronger, because last year they suffered a lot on acceleration. They still suffer but not like last year."

Additional reporting by Oriol Puigdemont