Phillip Island MotoGP: Toseland rode like a devil, says Rossi

Valentino Rossi heaped praise on James Toseland after their epic battle during the Australian MotoGP.

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The world champ and British rookie scrapped for several laps mid-race, swapping positions with a series of inch-perfect passes in a battle for third place.

It was the clear highlight of Toseland’s debut MotoGP season, and proved beyond doubt that the 2007 World Superbike champion is up to the standards of the very best riders in the world.

Rossi said: “With me Toseland was fair and it was a great battle. He rides like a devil, he rides like his life is depending on it. He wants to keep his position, that’s for sure but he was very fair with me.

“I was too relaxed the first time I passed him and I thought I was faster than him. I made my normal line for a good lap time and James came back and I said ‘f**k’. He was in front and I understood he had a good pace and James is always very difficult to overtake.

“I needed two or three laps to understand where I can pass him and the third time I passed him I had to push a lot to pull away.”

Toseland, who eventually finished the race sixth, said: “To just be battling up there and passing Valentino was a great honour. But you can see why he is so bloody good. Even when his bike or tyres might not be working at their best, he still rides like he hasn’t got any issues.”