Stoner blasts marshals after Rossi collision

Casey Stoner was prepared to accept that Valentino Rossi made a racing mistake at Jerez on Sunday - when the Italian crashed while trying to overtake the Australian, bringing them both down - but felt the reaction of the marshals was out of order.

While Rossi was able to rejoin and ultimately finish fifth Stoner, second behind Marco Simoncelli at the time of the accident, felt he didn't get enough assistance from the marshals to try and bump-start his factory Honda.

Stoner had stopped the engine when he fell to avoid damage.

The Australian, winner from pole at round one in Qatar and also on pole at Jerez, was thus forced to retire, also costing him the world championship lead.

"I heard Valentino arriving and I wasn't worried about anyone passing me at that point in the race so I gave him plenty of room," said Stoner.

"It was a racing incident and there's not much we can do, what is more frustrating is the reaction of the stewards and their assistance for Valentino and not for me, it was unbelievable."

Interestingly, Marco Simoncelli made similar complaints about the marshals after crashing out of the lead, also at turn one, on lap 12.

"The most frustrating thing about today though was that I got no help at all from the marshals, unlike other riders today," said Simoncelli. "The bike was okay and if I could have had some help I am sure I could have still had a good race."

San Carlo Honda Gresini team manager Fausto Gresini added: "The thing I am most annoyed about is the way [Marco] didn't get any help from the marshals, which was given to others! I don't want to get involved in controversy but I think there should be a criteria of equality for all riders."

After Simoncelli's exit, Jorge Lorenzo took the lead and went on to win Sunday's race.

Lorenzo now leads the world championship by nine points over Stoner's team-mate Dani Pedrosa. Stoner is 20 points behind Lorenzo in third with Rossi a further five points adrift in fifth.=