Yamaha boss defends Rossi's riding

Rossi fought hard with Stoner for the lead at Laguna Seca on Sunday - and triumphed after his Ducati Marlboro rival missed his braking point at the final corner several laps from home and fell off his bike.

And although Stoner refused to shake Rossi's hand in parc ferme after the race, and complained that the Italian had gone too far in his riding, Brivio has praised the efforts of his rider and team.

"There were no alternatives: during the whole weekend Stoner dominated with eight tenths to one second gap over everyone else, so Rossi knew that allowing Stoner to take the lead might have meant losing touch with him," he told the Italia1 television station.

"So the only chance was staying in front and trying not to let him through. I'd say he reacted at every move. In my opinion it was a fantastic race that demonstrated once again what you can do when you race with your heart."

Although Rossi now holds a 25-point advantage in the points standings over Stoner, Brivio believes Yamaha must keep working hard to fend off their Ducati rivals.

"We know the Ducati's electronics are more sophisticated. In fact, since they've introduced their latest updates Stoner has become very strong, while up to Barcelona he was normal and we had beaten him more than once," he said.

"So we must work in that same direction while also trying to have a more powerful engine, because on long straights it's difficult to keep him at bay. In fact the straight here is not very long, so we managed to defend ourselves."