Valentino Rossi took the positives from his fourth-placed finish at Indianapolis on Sunday, after he began to feel the physical strain towards the end of a demanding race in sweltering conditions.

With the temperature hitting 35ºC the Italian’s recovering physical condition was tested to the maximum, but he coped admirably to rise from seventh on the starting grid and end the race inside the top four.

"This was a good race for us after the weekend,” said Rossi, who uncharacteristically crashed in the second practice session, qualifying and warm up – his highest ever number of falls in a GP weekend. “Fourth is quite good in the circumstances but the important thing is that my rhythm in the race was strong and I felt much happier on the bike. I did some good laps and I wasn't too far from the other Yamahas, but unfortunately I paid a lot for my lack of fitness in this heat and in the end I had to stop pushing because I didn't have any strength left in my body.”

“I'm happy though because we came back to a good setting and with me riding well, and if you consider I had three small crashes in the weekend, fourth isn't so bad. Now we will look forward to Misano, my home race!"

Rossi’s Team Manager Davide Brivio was highly impressed with Rossi’s result, and added: "This was a really positive race for us and Valentino showed us that he could keep the pace of the front runners. Unfortunately he's still not in peak condition after his accident and with the heat he wasn't strong enough to keep the same pace for the whole race, but he fought at the top end, stayed close and showed us that he's okay. It gives us confidence for our overall set-up and our package for the next races. We came out well from a difficult weekend so well done to everyone."