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Valentino Rossi grabbed victory in the Italian GP this weekend, proving his doubters wrong and reducing Casey Stoner's lead at the top of the MotoGP standings.

Wearing a huge heart on his helmet as a riposte to those in the media who had questioned whether his was still in the competition, Rossi initially faltered on his return to his homeland and slipped to eighth after two laps.

Yet a steady ride from then on saw the Yamaha man chasing the front three within a further four laps and he then passed Marco Melandri, Stoner and finally Dani Pedrosa for a lead he never relinquished, giving him a sixth successive win on the Mugello course.

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Rossi stated afterwards: "It was really a perfect race for me today and I felt like I had everyone on my side; Mugello is a magical track for me and this victory gives us a lot of power and confidence for the next races.

"I had a special helmet for this race with a big heart on it and today I think we showed that we really have a lot of heart at Yamaha. This is a great, great moment for me."

The Italian was surrounded by a crowd of his adoring compatriots after crossing the finishing line and he acknowledged the "extra motivation" that racing in front of this partisan watching public gave him.

Now just nine points behind Stoner at the top, Rossi's next destination is Catalonia where his record is almost as formidable as in Italy, with ten podiums there in the past ten years, including eight wins.

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