American Nicky Hayden took advantage of a rare error by five-times champion Valentino Rossi [Images] at the Valencia Grand Prix to claim his first MotoGP world title on Sunday.

Rossi, who went into the final race with an eight-point lead in the standings, slid off into the gravel as he lost control of his front tyre on the fifth lap and although he remounted his Yamaha the Italian had lost over 25 seconds on the leaders.

He managed to thread his way through the field from 19th to 13th but was unable to pick up enough points to prevent Hayden taking the title with a third place finish behind winning Ducati duo Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi.

Rossi pulled alongside Hayden as he took the plaudits on his lap of honour and sportingly shook the American's hand.

The 25-year-old Hayden, whose title chances seemed to have evaporated when he was brought down by team mate Dani Pedrosa in the penultimate race in Portugal, collapsed to his knees as he lit a series of firecrackers on the Ricardo Tormo track.

"I'm really proud," Hayden, visibly shaking with emotion as tears ran down his cheeks, told Spanish state television. "We didn't give up even when we were down and we never gave up fighting."