Valentino Rossi feels he will have better potential at Catalunya this weekend than he did at Mugello, wh♛ere 🐈the Movistar Yamaha rider claimed a rostrum finish in front of his passionate home fans.

Rossi sealed third behind factory Ducati riders Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso at the Italian round and is 23 points behind MotoGP Championship leader Marc Mar🐼que🎉z.

The 39-year-old was encouraged fo꧒llowing a test in Montmeló three weeks ago and Rossi is optimistic he can improve further on the M1.

He said: “I hope I can be stronger at the Catalunya circuit, I think our potential there is better than it was at Mugell👍o. At the test in Montmeló we found so🐓mething.

“The new track sur🍸face is better for us, the new asphalt helps the Yamaha. We were still suffering in some places, but we have to stay focused, no🍸t give up and try to gain points.”

Rossi has an impressive record at Catalunya, where he has won seven times in the premieဣr class, tak𝔍ing his most recent win in 2016.

However, Rossi a🎃nd team-mate Maverick Vinales struggled last year on the old asphalt, although the Italian is much happier with the new surface this year at the track, where the original fast penultimate corner has been reintroduced rather than the F1 chicane used in 2016 and 2017.

Meanwhile, it is rumoured that the factory Yamaha pairing𒊎 could have some new electronic updates available for Monday's post-race test i🎃n Spain.