the start, both Max Biaggi and Hayden put pressure on Kenny Roberts Jr. who started from pole before passing him. At the halfway point, Hayden was in second place before being overtaken by the Honda Pons of Makoto Tamada and was relegated to third, a place he would maintain until the finish line. At the next race in Germany, Hayden would finish third once more, behind his teammate Barros and race winner Biaggi. On Saturday, Hayden qualified ninth, but managed to charge up the field and close in on Biaggi and Rossi halfway into the race, along with Barros. He would overtake Hayden for third place before he also passed Rossi for second. With six laps to go, Hayden overtook Rossi for the final podium position and would hold on to cross the line 0.207 seconds ahead of "The Doctor". After his consistent podium finishes in the last two Grand Prix, Hayden would finish off the podium once more in fourth at the British GP. At the Czech Republic, Hayden would retire for the third time this season. On Saturday, he had qualified on the third row in seventh place, but showed some serious pace during the pre-race warm-up session by finishing first. When the lights went out, Hayden initially started off well—he moved up the field to battle with a three-man group consisting of Rossi, Biaggi and Barros, who tried to reduce the gap to race leader Gibernau. After Barros fell and retired, Hayden moved up to fourth, but with five laps to go, Hayden lost the front wheel on turn-in and bounced into the gravel, retiring from the race in the process. Hayden would break his right collarbone when he rode a CRF450 Honda dirt bike in Italy, causing him to miss the next race in Portugal. He would return the next round in Japan but would retire from the race after he was involved in a six-bike crash on the opening lap, marking his fourth retirement of the season. At the next three rounds in Qatar, Malaysia and Australia, Hayden would finish fifth, fourth and sixth, respectively, before retiring for the fifth and final time of the year at the last round at the Valencian Community. Hayden battled with Rossi and Biaggi during the race until his bike got sideways under braking into turn one, forcing him to ride wide (after narrowly avoiding hitting the back of