Rossi: Last corner Gibernau pass vital.

After taking 13 and 12 points out of Nicky Hayden's championship lead in the two rounds prior to Australia, reigning MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi looked likely to gain just 2 points at Phillip Island - until a last corner pass.

While fellow podium finishers Marco Melandri and Chris Vermeulen - and arguably title rival Hayden - had their race day fortunes improved by the rain, which necessitated the first ever MotoGP pit stops, Rossi felt that much more was possible had the dry conditions continued.

"I'm a little disappointed with third place because I know that in dry conditions we had a very good set-up and I think the result could have been better," he confirmed. "Anyway, we can't do anything about the weather and in these circumstances I have to be thankful for third place because we have pulled some more points back on Nicky."

After poor starts, Rossi and Hayden spent much of the race together and both reeled in a fading Gibernau throughout the closing stages - but, typically, only Rossi was able to squeeze past just before the chequered flag to score five points more than his fifth placed Honda opponent.

"I'm really happy with the second half of the race because the gap to Sete was seven seconds, but I made my mind up to try and pass him and my bike and my Michelin tyre worked very well to the end," said Rossi. "I saw the red dot getting bigger and bigger and to pass him in the last corner was excellent. I would have liked to win for the sixth time here but at least I got to celebrate on the podium in front of all these wonderful fans."

Rossi now has three races in which to bridge the 21 point gap to Hayden, starting with next weekend's Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, an event that will have the extra pressure of being Yamaha's home race and at a track where the Italian struggled one year ago.

"Honestly it's not a track I like very much and I haven't had such a good time there in the past, but we're going to have to do our best at Motegi," said Rossi, who didn't finish last year's race after a collision with Marco Melandri. "Three races in a row like this is very hard, especially with this one as the third! We need to make the most of the practice time there because it is not a great track for us. Last year especially it was not a good weekend; we had a lot of problems during the practices and then the race result was very bad!

"A gap of 21 points is still a lot but it's not impossible so we can still try. Motegi is going to be a very important race for us, firstly because we know it's going to be difficult and secondly because we have to try to get more points from Hayden in order to stay in the fight. My M1 has been pretty good recently and I think we're going there in good shape, so hopefully we can make the most of the weekend and go back to Europe with an even better shot at the title," he concluded.

First practice for the Japanese Grand Prix takes place on Friday morning.