Rossi: I could have beaten Stoner

The Yamaha rider scored his second consecutive victory off the back of a mistake from the world champion, but the Italian claims he had the pace to beat the Ducati in Brno, despite being a second behind him at the time of the accident.

"Casey pushed very hard on the first lap, a lot more than Laguna Seca, because he expected me to attack, and I ended the first lap with a one second disadvantage already," explained Rossi. "But after one lap I understood that today it was possible.

"I had a great pace and my tyre choice was the right one. After the warm-up we found some improvements in the bike and on the last lap before the Stoner crashed I gained 1.3s on him and I was very confident I could take him.

"But the race is very long. So I was thinking: 'I can, I can, I can,' and then I saw the red bike sliding away and I thought: 'Ah, easier'."

Rossi now enjoys a massive 50-point lead over Stoner with just six races left to go in the championship.

But the seven-time world champion says that despite this, it is too early to relax and race conservatively.

"It is an important advantage, but it is too early, there are still six races to go," he said. "So I have to continue like this, I try to beat him, but if it is not possible then I will finish behind no worse than second.

"It is a great advantage because we are back the way it was after Barcelona, the point when Stoner started to go very fast. But you know, six races with a rider like Stoner, who is great, has fantastic speed everywhere in every condition, (50 points) is not enough."