Movistar Yamaha's Valentino Rossi expects Marc Marquez to be strong at Le Mans but the MotoGP World Championship leader himself is 'confident' of his prospects in France this weekend.

Rossi holds an advantage of 15 points heading into the fifth round of the championship over Andrea Dovizioso and is aiming for another rostrum on Sunday after claiming a record 200th career podium at Jerez.

"I'm happy to go to Le Mans, it is a nice track, but every year it's different. Usually it's a good race for us, Yamaha and me, but last year our competitors were very strong," said Rossi.

"I imagine that Marc will also be strong this year, but I like this circuit, I like to ride here and our bike seems to go very well, especially on Sunday afternoon.

"This is a good thing, because we have to fight for the championship. In Jerez we didn't have a perfect weekend. Third place was positive, but we can do better. Jorge did a great race, so the YZR-M1 is doing really well," he added.

"At Le Mans we have to work well and fix the bike better. I'm confident."