"We know it's becoming a huge challenge but nothing is finished yet. We have to take it race by race and forget about the championship for a while.

"The only thing we have to think of is try to win each of the 12 remaining races."

Yamaha team director Davide Brivio said Rossi and team mate Colin Edwards, who finished sixth, looked like they could have topped the podium at one point during the race.

"Valentino had everything under control but he was unfortunate to have this engine problem," he said, adding that he was relieved the technical problems on Rossi's bike had been resolved.

"Mugello is very important. We go to there to win the race and we'll do the same for the rest of the season."