teammate Okada starting from pole, Crivillé moved up from the middle of the field up to third as the race progressed. He then overtook second placed Roberts Jr. and went after leader Okada. After a failed overtaking attempt at turn 10 (the "Melbourne Hairpin") and a comeback from Okada on the same corner to retake the lead on the last lap, Crivillé held on and won the race by 0.536 seconds. He took his second and final fastest lap of the year here as well. Two-second places followed in Germany and the Czech Republic. At the Sachsenring, Crivillé lost out to Kenny Roberts Jr. by just 0.338 seconds and in Brno likewise happened when teammate Okada got the better of him and crossed the line 0.240 seconds ahead of the Catalan. At round eleven in the City of Imola race, Crivillé took his second pole of the season on Saturday, outqualifying Kenny Roberts Jr. in the process. On Sunday, Crivillé stayed ahead of Alex Barros and home hero Max Biaggi to win the race with a 0.265-second margin over Barros. This win extended his lead over Roberts Jr. by 66 points. After a string of good results, Crivillé had a second retirement of the season at the new Valencian Community round. A few laps before the end, he had an accident which brought him out of contention. In Australia, Crivillé had a crash during qualifying in which he suffered a cracked bone in his hand due to a highside, which launched him off his bike at high speed. He participated in the race on Sunday and finished fifth. In South Africa he finished third, that being his last podium of the season. Going into the penultimate round in Rio de Janeiro, Crivillé had a 44-point lead over his teammate Okada and needed to finish tenth or higher to secure the title. However, he was still recovering from a broken wrist injury he sustained two races before at Phillip Island and thus started the race from eleventh place. During the race he fought with Anthony Gobert and Garry McCoy and finished in sixth, ahead of Okada, to win the title. He became the first Spaniard, as well as Catalan, to win a 500cc title. With the title already won, Crivillé finished fifth at the last race of the season in Argentina. Crivillé finished first in the championship with 267 points, 47