It had been a truly epic display of racing talent, but when Rossi attempted to shake hands with Stoner in parc ferme immediately afterwards, an angry Stoner refused.

A smiling Rossi responded by patting Stoner on the back and saying "this is racing Casey."

"Oh this is racing?" replied Stoner. "Okay, we'll see..."

There hasn't been such parc ferme tension since Rossi and Sete Gibernau collided at the final turn of the 2005 Spanish Grand Prix - even the presence of Tom Cruise did little to lighten Stoner's mood - but it should be remembered that Stoner was speaking in the heat of the moment and whilst still coming to terms with losing a race he looked certain to dominate.

Stoner and Rossi appeared on more amicable terms by the time the podium ceremony took place, although Stoner later stood by his claim that some of Rossi's moves were 'aggressive' - while taking full responsibility for the accident that ultimately cost him a chance of victory.

"We [Rossi and Stoner] were side by side much of the race," said Stoner. "There were a couple of moves I wasn't very happy with. Valentino was riding a great race and was very defensive and hard to pass. He wasn't making any mistakes. I was basically trying to find the right place to get past.

"I thought the passing was a little rough. I've done a lot of overtaking moves, and there were a couple of passes which were some of the most aggressive I've seen in a long time," he explained. "Just a couple I wasn't happy with. The others were fine - clean side by side.

"I made a mistake going into the last corner and I hit a big patch of sand instead of dirt and just lost the front of the bike when I was trying to get back on track," confirmed Casey. "I have to deal with it."

Ducati MotoGP Project Leader Livio Suppo backed his riders comments, calling some of Rossi's moves 'over the limit' whilst highlighting the exceptional talents of Rossi, Stoner and the absent Dani Pedrosa.

"It was a very tight race, spectacular to watch and evidence that it is not only the electronics that make the difference in this sport, but two riders who are one step above everybody else at the moment," he said. "Dani is also a part of that small club but unfortunately he wasn't here today.

"After three straight victories for Casey, today was Valentino's turn, that's fair enough. For sure if Casey had not shown a tremendous coolness and maturity, there would have been at least a few occasions in which they both could have crashed as a result of manoeuvres which, in our opinion, were a bit over the limit on Vale's part," he declared.

Rossi responded to the criticism by saying: "I need the tactics I need to win, and for sure, we make it hard for overtaking... I am sorry that Casey thinks some of [the passes] were a bit strong but I really don't agree; I passed only on the brakes, I braked in the same places every time [some had suggested Rossi brake-checked Stoner] and we never touched. Of course this was an aggressive race, but it was definitely a fair one... I enjoyed the battle, anyway."