Jorge Lorenzo is optimistic he can start beating championship leader Casey Stoner, despite conceding the Australian is looking very strong at the moment.
Honda rider Stoner leads the championship by 20 points from Lorenzo after having scored five victories this year. The Australian has finished on the podium in all the races he has finished.
Lorenzo admits Stoner is very strong this year, but he is hopeful Yamaha is making the progress that will allow him to fight with the Honda rider in the remaining part of the season.
"It's the only way to recover points and to fight with him until the end of the championship," said Lorenzo of beating Stoner during a press conference ahead of the Czech Grand Prix. "I think we know it's going to be a very hard war because he is riding so fast this year, so consistently, and he has a great bike.
"But we are improving a lot. Our bike I think is more of a winning bike and I think I'm in good shape, so from this moment until the end of the season we are going to try to improve even more. I think it's going to be an interesting second part of the season."
The Spanish rider is expecting to be strong this weekend at Brno, but he is staying cautious ahead of the race.
"Brno is a good track for us, and also for my riding style. It's a track that can be good for us. But that's theory and sometimes theory doesn't work in reality. So we must wait and see what's going to happen during the weekend."