allowing Hayden to win the race. This win gave Hayden a full set of 25 points and with Rossi finishing in eighth place, he increased his gap over him by 46 points in the championship. Hayden would once more finish off the podium in seventh place in Great Britain with Rossi picking up second place, but Hayden would respond in Germany by finishing third behind Marco Melandri and Rossi whom he battled with all throughout the race, finishing 0.266 behind eventual race winner Rossi, and by winning his home race at the United States round in Laguna Seca for the second consecutive year in a row. Hayden started sixth on the grid, but gained three places at turn one and was chasing down Kenny Roberts Jr. and pole-sitter Chris Vermeulen. Hayden overtook Kenny Roberts Jr. on lap nine, but by that time Vermeulen had built up a two-second gap. However, Hayden cut the gap to Vermeulen down as Vermeulen's Bridgestone tires started to suffer in the warm conditions and—as the halfway stage arrived—was within striking distance. Vermeulen ran slightly wide on the next lap, reluctantly conceding the win to Hayden. After taking over first place from Vermeulen, he built up a two-second gap and crossed the line first, 3.186 seconds ahead of Hayden's teammate Dani Pedrosa. Rossi retired from the race due to mechanical problems, increasing Hayden's championship lead over now second-place Pedrosa by 34 points and Rossi by 51 points, who now stood fourth in the championship. Hayden finished ninth at the Czech Republic, fourth at the Malaysian, fifth at the Australian, despite scoring his first and only pole position of the season here, and finishing fifth once more in Japan. With Rossi scoring consistent podiums—including one win at Sepang—he managed to move up to second in the championship once more and cut the points deficit from 51 at Laguna Seca to 12 in Motegi. At the penultimate round in Portugal, Rossi took pole position on Saturday with Hayden starting in third position. On race day, Hayden was taken out by his teammate Dani Pedrosa on the fifth lap after Pedrosa tried to overtake him but failed, lost the front and hit Hayden, causing both riders to retire. This first and only retirement of the year would hand Rossi the championship by eight points going into the last round of the season. However, because Rossi finished second—just 0.002 behind