Fiat Yamaha Team's Valentino Rossi (Photo: Brian J Nelson) » More Photos

This was Rossi's first win on American soil at a track that is not his favorite and of which he has often been critical. But on the slow down lap Rossi stopped to kiss the tarmac at the Corkscrew in celebration of his win although this was also the scene of a dramatic mid-race duel with Stoner.

Rossi started from second on the front row and immediately attacked, taking the lead on lap one and then engaging Stoner in an often brutal overtaking battle. The pair traded places five times on lap four.

"That was a great battle and Casey was unbelievable today and there was a lot of overtaking, but in the end a fantastic result," Rossi aid. "I knew I had to try and stay in front of Casey and it was impossible to relax even for one second.

"I made one mistake when I went wide at the Corkscrew but the dirt had good grip. I was stronger on the brakes so I had to make all my passes there.

"This was an old style race, a lot of aggressive overtaking, but also fun."

While Stoner admitted that his lap 24 mistake was an error that cost him a chance of victory, he was less than impressed with what he considered Rossi's heavy-handed tactics.

Stoner officially led one lap, on 13, but this does not reflect that his Ducati was often side-by-side with Rossi's Yamaha.

"Valentino was riding very well but also very defensive and he wasn't making any mistakes," Stoner said. "But some of his moves were too aggressive. I might only be 22 but I've been racing a lot of years and some of these were too much in my opinion.

"The pace was high and I'm disappointed I made a mistake and ran off into the gravel, I have to accept that, it was race over after that.

"I'm 25 points behind in the championship but there are seven races left and anything can happen."

Stoner posted a new track record on lap 15 of 32 as he chased Rossi.