Fresh from victory in last month's Dutch Grand Prix, Valentino Rossi is confident of a third straight win in Germany this weekend as he seeks to trim Casey Stoner's lead in the MotoGP world championship.
Rossi stormed through the field from 11th place at the start to win at the Sachsenring last year and repeated the feat in the Netherlands on June 30 to cut Stoner's lead to 21 points in the overall standings.
"Of course, I would much rather start from the front but anyway I'm feeling confident," said Rossi, who also won the race in Germany in 2002 and 2005.
"We know, however, that Casey will be strong again, like he is everywhere this year," the Italian Yamaha rider added.
"With him performing at such a high level at every race, 21 points is not a small amount so we have to be at the maximum."
Last year's German Grand Prix at the twisting Sachsenring circuit was the closest-ever top four finish in MotoGP, with 0.307 seconds covering the leading quartet across the line.
Stoner missed the race after crashing in the warm-up but said he is looking forward to the numerous challenges the riders face at the eastern German track as the season reaches the halfway point.
"I got my first ever podium at the Sachsenring, the track is fun on a 125 but it's a little bit more difficult to negotiate some of those turns on a MotoGP bike," Stoner said.
His Ducati machine and Bridgestone tyres have been working well at most circuits this season, the 21-year-old Australian said. "So when we get to Germany we'll just concentrate and keep doing what we've been doing."
In the 250cc category, Jorge Lorenzo has a 23-point lead over Andrea Dovizioso, having taken six wins already this season, including in the Netherlands in the last race.
The Spanish world champion's third-place finish in Germany last year was his first podium at the Sachsenring.
Hector Faubel has a slim, seven-point lead over Hungary's Gabor Talmasci in the 125cc category, with only two riders having won more than one race this season.