Valentino Rossi considers radical tactics after being left 0.447secs behind Casey Stoner in US Grand Prix qualifying.

Valentino Rossi was determined to close the 0.8secs gap to Casey Stoner during day two of the US Grand Prix, but only gained one tenth in final free practice and - whilst he claimed second on the grid in qualifying - was almost half a second adrift of the Ducati star.

"Second place is good for us and I think we've done a lot better in the practice this weekend than we have in the last couple of races, so I'm happy about this," said the Fiat Yamaha star, who signed a new two-year contract on Saturday night.

Rossi will start Sunday's race 20 points in front of reigning world champion Stoner, but lose 25% of that advantage even if he finishes second to the Australian - winner of the past three rounds.

"Casey is very fast and I don't know exactly how to beat him - maybe I need to start 30 seconds earlier!" he joked. "Whatever happens a good start is going to be very important and then I will just try to stay with him and keep pushing."

Home star Nicky Hayden will join Stoner and Rossi on the front row, while Rossi's rookie team-mate Jorge Lorenzo qualified fourth during his first qualifying session at Laguna Seca.