Melandri rode strongly to hold off the challenge of Rossi

The win lifts Melandri to second in the riders championship ahead of rivals Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards.

Melandri, who started from second, made a superb start to overtake team-mate Sete Gibernau and lead into turn one.

Gibernau retook the lead on the fourth lap but then ran wide through the gravel to drop back down the field.

Rossi, who had dropped down to eighth early on, moved back up the field and took second behind Melandri by lap eight.

But despite all his effort, he was unable to overtake his compatriot Melandri and had to eventually settle for second place, well clear of third-placed Hayden, taking his third consecutive podium finish.

Despite his second place, Rossi was full of praise for Melandri's display.

"Marco had an incredible race and didn't make any mistakes," he said.

"For me, the weekend was tough and there were a lot of problems. When the tyres started to slide, I was in difficulty so I was happy with second place."

Rossi, who has 11 wins this season with one race to go, must now wait for another season to break Michael Doohan's double record of 12 victories in one campaign and 54 career Moto GP wins.

He can still equal both records at the last race of the season in Valencia in a fortnight.

Gibernau recovered from his mistake to fight back for fourth place while Ducati Carlos Checa took fifth.

Promising youngster Toni Elias claimed the best result of his short MotoGP career with a superb sixth for Yamaha, edging out Edwards by a fraction of a second with a late move.