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Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner exchanged words in parc ferme over a number of incidents in Sunday's MotoGP round at Laguna Seca.
The pair battled for the lead for 24 of the 32 laps, passing and re-passing each other several times. Rossi spent the most time in front and was ahead when Stoner ran wide at the last corner and dropped his bike in the gravel.

That granted Rossi an easy run to his maiden victory at Laguna, while Stoner recovered to finish second but complained about Rossi's riding after the race.

A brief conversation in parc ferme when Rossi attempted to shake hands with Stoner was caught on the BBC's live television coverage:

Rossi: "Great race."
Stoner: "No, you can't race this way."
Rossi: "That's racing, Casey."
Stoner: "That's racing? Ok, we'll see."

Stoner explained his complaint, claiming that some of Rossi's overtaking moves crossed the line between aggressive and 'too much'.

"It was about two or three moves, I think everybody will have seen them," he told the BBC. "A couple of other moves were alright, nice and clean, but there were a couple I wasn't happy with.

"I've been in hard racing all my life, some very aggressive racing, but today was a little bit too much. I nearly went in the gravel so many times and I don't think it was necessary. I was so nearly on the floor it wasn't funny."

The Australian later expanded on his view, and also suggested that Rossi braked earlier than usual at the final corner which caused him to run wide before falling in the gravel.

"I was just trying to find a point where I could get past where I knew he wasn't going to come barreling up the inside and wipe us both out," said Stoner. "We're here to try to score points, not to end a race. Even when I ran wide in the corner I could easily have gone into the back of Valentino and both of us gone down.

"He seemed to brake a lot earlier than normal. I nearly stayed on the track and I'd completely let off the brakes just to get it round to the right of him. I'm disappointed with my mistake. I could have caught it, I suppose. He'd done it a few times in the race so I should have been expecting it, but that time I just couldn't stop quick enough. I felt like I was going to plough into the back of him so I just let the brakes off and went around."

When asked whether the outcome of the race makes him think he should be more aggressive in future, Stoner replied: "I don't know whether I should because I've had problems before. I got fined two years ago for getting slightly in the way of Dani Pedrosa on a qualifying lap. I didn't mean to but I got fined for it.

"Dani or Valentino wouldn't get fined for this, but I get fined for it. So I'm worried if I do the same display I'll have punishment put on me, so I prefer to stay away from this and ride clean, aggressive but clean. If everything's kept fair and square it's alright, but I'm wondering sometimes whether they make decisions for certain reasons.

"But, look, Valentino rode a great race and I have nothing against that, just a couple of his overtaking moves, for me, were past the point. But I spoke to him about it on the podium and we'll just get on with the next weekend."

Rossi dismissed the claims of over-aggression, telling Italia1 television: "What a great race. I'm sorry Stoner complained. I understand our fight was very aggressive, but I think he complained most of all because he ended up behind. I'm very sad that he was angry at the beginning but I think after a race like this it's normal when you arrive behind.

"I think the battle was normal, I never touched him, I never ran wide. The overtaking moves were tough but I always passed under braking, which is where I'm stronger. This is racing and every overtake was very clear for me.

"The only time he tried to pass me he touched me with the wheel on the elbow, so I should be more upset than him!"

He was also quick to deny that he braked earlier than usual at the final corner on the lap of Stoner's fall.

"No, no, no. I never make this type of thinking in my career and I become angry if he says this," said Rossi. "I'm good to overtake, not to brake before. I think he made a mistake and you need to admit when you made a mistake. I didn't brake before, for sure. I didn't even know he crashed, I saw the next lap."

Rossi added that he was genuinely quick enough to win the race and warned Stoner that he is fighting hard to win the championship.

"I was going quick and, except on the front straight where the Ducati is a bit quicker than our bike, I don't think I was slowing him down. I wanted to win, Stoner cannot think we're here to play games: we're fighting to win, this is racing.

"I've been racing for a long time and, except for these last few years, I remember races to be like this and no one ever complained. Casey is very strong, but we are fast and we are ready for the battle."

The Italian went on to describe one of the moves that Stoner wasn't happy with, where Rossi squeezed past Stoner into the Corkscrew and bounced wide over the gravel as he dropped down the hill.

"It was fun, like an old style race with some hard overtaking back to back. That move was fantastic, he braked late but I braked even later. We went a bit wide but that's a peculiar corner so it can happen. When I realised I was going on the gravel I worried a bit, but the gravel here has good grip!

Series leader Troy Bayliss got back to winning ways in style as he clinched both races in today's World Superbikes round at Brno.

Bayliss had not had a win since April and had never triumphed at the Czech circuit, but the Ducati rider broke his duck with his 47th career victory in race one and then cemented his place at the top of the World Superbike standings by doing the same in race two.

Bayliss beat fellow Australian Troy Corser by 1.5 seconds in the first race of the day and enjoyed victory by even less of a margin in the second as Michel Fabrizio rode across the line less than a second behind him.

The 39-year-old extends his lead at the top of the table to 309 points, 79 ahead of second-placed Max Neukirchner who, after his heroics at Misano, could only manage seventh and fifth places.

Bayliss started in pole position but it was Max Biaggi and Corser who tussled for the lead for more than half the race, before eventually being overtaken by the experienced Australian in a spectacular move that almost ended in disaster.

Corser was attempting to wrest the lead off of Biaggi, who was looking for his ninth successive victory at Brno, but was very nearly taken out by Bayliss who was trying to overtake on the other side of the Sterilgarda rider.

But the three avoided a crash with Bayliss eventually taking the lead and clinging on for a long-awaited victory in his last race at the circuit.

It was more of the same in the second race of the day as Corser got off to a great start before Bayliss snatched the lead off his fellow Australian on lap nine.

It looked a close call whether Corser would manage to retake the lead but the Yamaha rider appeared to be suffering from grip problems and slipped away from Bayliss before being overtaken by Biaggi with two laps of the 20 to go.

Biaggi thought he had secured second spot until a fantastic late surge from Fabrizio, who had finished third in race one, saw him fly from sixth on lap 14 to very nearly claim a stunning victory.

Carlos Checa who started the weekend in third had a day to forget as he finished the first race in eighth place before his bike ground to a halt on lap 10 of the second, with the Spaniard looking to break into the top six.

First picture of Colin Edwards' special US Grand Prix livery.

This is the special livery with which Tech 3 Yamaha star Colin Edwards will race in his home US Grand Prix, at Laguna Seca this afternoon.

The one-off paint scheme features the traditional Stars and Stripes of the American flag and New York's Statue of Liberty.

France gave the Statue to the United States over one hundred years ago and Edwards chose the theme in honour of his relationship with his French-based Tech 3 outfit, which he will ride for again in 2009 after signing a new contract on the eve of his home race.

The Texas Tornado will start the US GP from seventh on the grid.

Lewis Hamilton overtook Heikki Kovalainen, Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet in the closing stages to win a thrilling German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The British McLaren driver won his second successive race to take sole possession of the lead in the drivers' championship, four points ahead of Ferrari's Massa.

Renault's Piquet, operating a one-stop strategy, claimed his first podium finish in Formula One in second, with Massa third and Kimi Raikkonen sixth.

Despite setting a blistering pace throughout, Hamilton nearly lost the race thanks to a tactical blunder by his team.

A big crash involving Timo Glock brought the safety car out but Hamilton, who was leading, opted not to take a pit stop and as a consequence was relegated to fourth after he pitted later in the race.

However, Hamilton used his superior pace to overtake Heikki Kovalained, Massa and Piquet, all at the same hairpin, to secure a magnificent victory.

"I didn't plan on doing that. I'd have much preferred an easy, comfortable afternoon out front," he said.

"Overall it was a very, very good weekend. It's got to be the best weekend up to now," added Hamilton. "I think that we're really on top of our game right now."

Polesitter Hamilton led from pole position and immediately built a commanding advantage over Massa, while world champion Raikkonen continued to struggle with his set up and languished in the lower points positions.

The 23-year-old seemed set for a routine win before Glock's crash just after half distance changed everything.

The German's Toyota suffered suspension failure entering the start-finish straight and smashed into the pit wall. Glock was taken to hospital, although Toyota said he had no visible injuries, and his retirement prompted the safety car to come out.

While the other front-runners all pitted at the first opportunity, McLaren bizarrely decided to keep Hamilton out. Massa emerged from his stop and caught up with the safety car, just 50 metres off the leader who still had to come in.

Hamilton proved unable to build a sufficient gap and emerged from his stop in fourth behind Piquet, Massa and team-mate Kovalainen with 16 laps remaining.

The Briton proved to be a myth the claim that there is no overtaking in Formula One, streaking past all three men and taking a huge step towards a first world championship.

Hamilton moves on to 58 championship points, four clear of Massa, seven ahead of Raikkonen and 10 ahead of BMW's Robert Kubica, who was seventh.

Kubica's BMW team-mate Nick Heidfeld was fourth, while Sebastian Vettel took the final points position for Toro Rosso.

David Coulthard had to settle for 13th following a collision with Honda's Rubens Barrichello, who retired after the incident. Jenson Button was the last finisher in 17th.

Jorge Lorenzo breaks two bones in his left foot after a huge opening lap highside in Sunday's US Grand Prix.

Just when MotoGP rookie Jorge Lorenzo looked to have put a spate of accidents behind him, the Spaniard suffered a huge highside on the very first lap of the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, ending his American debut in the Turn Five gravel.

Lorenzo made a good start and was up to fourth place when the accident, similar in magnitude to his Shanghai fall, happened. It was immediately clear that the Estoril winner had injured himself, a depressing realisation for a rider who has already had to cope with two broken ankles (Shanghai) and a concussion (Catalunya) this season.

It was later confirmed that the 21-year-old Fiat Yamaha rider broke the third and fifth metatarsal bones in his left foot and - while he at least has the summer break to recuperate - still faces a race against time to be fully fit for the Czech Republic Grand Prix on August 17.

"I'm very sad today because I had a lot of confidence for the race after the qualifying session yesterday and, above all, after the very start of the race when I was fourth and feeling good," said Lorenzo, who flow home on Sunday night for further assessment in Barcelona this week. "Then I crashed; my tyre was not up to temperature, I lost the rear and the next thing I knew I was in the gravel, with pain in my foot.

"It is one more crash, one more injury and it's another moment that I have to forget as soon as possible. I need to look forward. I am so sad but now I must concentrate on the fact that I have a whole month before Brno in order to be fit and to be able to race in good shape. This is my aim," he added.

"The main problem today was the lack of grip on the rear, which was amplified at the beginning of the race when the tyres were not yet at the optimum temperature," confirmed team manager Daniele Romagnoli. "Now let's hope for a good rest for Jorge; we wish him a good recovery and we look forward to seeing him come back at Brno ready to fight again with the top riders."

Meanwhile, there was at least cause for celebration the other side of the factory Yamaha garage as team-mate Valentino Rossi took his first ever US Grand Prix victory, following a scintillating battle with Casey Stoner.

"I would like to congratulate to Valentino for his great victory and race today, he did a fantastic job," said Lorenzo.