Phillip Island runner-up Valentino Rossi says the 🥂fairing-bashing on show in𒐪 Australia is now ‘the game’ in MotoGP.

The nine-time world champion clashed on track with eventual winner Marc Marquez, premier 🍌class rookie Johann Zarco and fellow Italian Andrea Iannone as a fierce battle raged for🐻 the rostrum places.

Rossi admits that the𓄧 level of contact in evidence on the track is more dangerous, but the 38-year-old concedes that he may as well stay at home unless he is up for the battle.

After recovering from a broken leg, Rossi return💟ed to the podium at Phillip Island for the first time since Silverstone with a determined ride to second place and showed without question that he still has the stomach for a fight.

“It’s like this, especially in the last period, the level of aggressiveness and contact during the race is raised a lot, especially when the young riders arrive from Moto2. Also Zarco is always very, very aggre♛ssive, so you can🌠 get angry but it changes nothing,” Rossi said.

“This is the game and if you want to play it is like this. It’s a bit more dangerous, but this is the way and if nꦕot, you have to stay at home.”

Rossi felt he had the pace to run with Marquez until t🤪he end of the race but highlighted an incident with Ecstar Suzuki rider Iannone, which he says thwarted his chances and allowed Marquez to make a break.

“I enjoy ve💫ry much and it was a great race, starting from the beginning with [Jack] Miller and [Aleix] Espargaro, I had a good pace. After I have to fight, especially with Zarco and after a while Iannone – I think the two worst riders for fight!” he said.

“I remembe🦹r also I hꦆave to fight with Iannone in 2015 and he beat me on the last lap, so I try the maximum and also with Zarco. With Marquez it was a great race and I enjoy a lot. I am so happy because we were competitive and we worked well.

“I was, like everybody, lucky because there were๊ good conditions and you can see for sure the best rac😼e of the season. All the people that wake up at seven o’clock in Europe will be happy,” he added.

“I did the right choice for the tyres and I think at the end I have thꦬe potential to stay with Marquez until the end because I was fast, but one moment I think I am in the perfect position, Iannone arrived in the hairpin like crazy and Marquez go.

“Anyway, it was difficult to win but I’m so happy and it’s important for me because I come from a difficult period after a broken leg and it is also important for Yamaha and all our group.♔”