It was apposite that on the day that Valentino Rossi put one hand on an eighth world title, he matched the record set by another flamboyant Italian with film-star looks. Giacomo Agostini was the Latin whirlwind who dominated the sport in the late 1960s and early 1970s on his way to recording 68 victories in the elite class. Yesterday, Rossi equalled that mark as he took advantage of another error by Casey Stoner, the world champion, to win the San Marino Grand Prix in front of a raucous home crowd.

Rossi, who has not won the world title since 2005, is a massive 75 points clear of Stoner with five races left. The Italian showed a fatal flaw when he crashed at the end of the 2006 season to gift his title to Nicky Hayden, but it will take a Devon Loch-type collapse to deny him this time. Hayden, sitting out yesterday’s race with an injured foot, certainly backed his old adversary with a barbed comment about Stoner’s recent displays. “As hard as that guy rides, I can’t believe he doesn’t crash more,” the American said.

A keen student of motorcycle racing history, Rossi said: “It is incredible to win 68 to draw level with Giacomo. I saw him beforehand and he was laughing. I said, ‘Maybe I can match you.’ ” Rossi’s renaissance is a story to be told in tandem with Stoner’s downfall. The Australian was once labelled Rolling Stoner for his habit of crashing, but he has been brilliant for 18 months, winning the world title on a Ducati that nobody else has been capable of taming and being unafraid of indulging in some sledging as his rivalry with Rossi has intensified. However, just as Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau found out in the past, there is usually only one winner when it comes to mind games with Rossi.

Stoner criticised his Italian rival for being overaggressive at the USA Grand Prix in July, but since then he has apologised and fallen off while leading two races. In recent seasons, Rossi has not been infallible, either, but Stoner will need to add injury to insults if he is to prevent the self-styled Doctor from remedying his two-year barren streak. Riding with a broken bone in his left hand, Stoner qualified on pole position yesterday and eked out what looked a race-winning lead in the early exchanges at a stifling Misano. However, he lost the front end on the eighth lap and Rossi breezed into the lead. That was effectively that, although Rossi suffered a scare in the early stages when he was thrown out of his seat only to save himself.

“I got a good start, but then Dani [Pedrosa] came past me very fast and I lost a lot of time getting past him and had to take some big risks,” Rossi said. “I had a big slide. I kept pushing because it’s not in my nature to ride for second place and then I saw Casey slide out. I’m sorry for him once again, but this is very good for our championship. There are still five races and I will ride to win at every one.”

It is testament in part to Rossi’s enduring reputation that his young rivals have been falling like flies of late. Second yesterday was Jorge Lorenzo, the teammate who started the season beating Rossi with an audacious swagger only to end up breaking both ankles and spending as much time on a hospital bed as the podium. Toni Elias was third on the satellite Alice Ducati, but his return to form may not be enough to save his job and Pedrosa, still struggling with injuries from a crash in Germany, was fourth.

The good news for Britain was James Toseland’s return to form after a difficult mid-season. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider finished sixth and came out on top of a thrilling three-way battle with Loris Capirossi and Andrea Dovizioso. “It was never-ending,” Toseland said.

In the 125cc race, two Britons started on the front row of the grid and, while Scott Redding crashed out early on, Bradley Smith matched the best result of his short career with second place.

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