 Nicky Hayden scored his second MotoGP race victory in Assen, extending his championship lead, not to his team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, to 42 points. Colin Edwards came within metres of his first MotoGP World Championship victory after dominating the Dutch TT until a breathtaking finale at Assen. Starting from the front row of the grid Edwards led the way from the first turn and set an electrifying pace that only American compatriot Nicky Hayden (Honda) was able to follow. With two laps remaining Hayden closed in and made his first lunge for the lead, forcing Edwards off the track and onto the escape road.
The Texan Tornado looked consigned to second place but he produced a stunning fight-back to pull level with Hayden on the final lap and retake the lead with just a few corners to go. When Hayden launched one last attack into the final chicane, only to run straight onto the gravel, Edwards seemed certain to win but there was one final twist in the tale as he ran onto the grass on the exit from the corner and lost control of his YZR-M1 machine, which threw him into the air. As Edwards slid to the ground within touching distance of the finish line Hayden returned to the track to snatch his first win of the season, leaving the Yamaha man to pick his bike up and limp across the line in 13th place.
Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano scored his best ever result in motorcycle racing's premier class as he brought his Ninja ZX-RR home in second place. The 28-year-old Kawasaki rider took maximum advantage of his front row start, hitting the first turn in third place and then staying with the leading quartet of riders as they pulled out a lead on the pursuing pack. Nakano was pushed back to fourth by eventual race winner, Nicky Hayden, and then dropped back slightly from the leading trio as a result of front end chatter on his Ninja ZX-RR. As the race approached the halfway point, and the chatter diminished, the Kawasaki rider managed to chase down John Hopkins, putting in a pass at the start of lap 12 to retake third place. By the final lap Nakano had settled for third place, and his first rostrum finish of the season, when Colin Edwards crashed out of the race at the final chicane, gifting Nakano with second place on the podium and his best ever result in the MotoGP World Championship.
Pedrosa got the verdict from Stoner and Roberts for what he thought was fourth only to be directed towards the podium after seeing the stricken Edwards extracting his Yamaha from the run-off area. This was some race in what is turning out to be some World Championship.
Hopkins got off to a great start from his pole position and was in second place behind the Yamaha of Colin Edwards for the first third of the race. As the race developed and grip became an important issue, Hopkins was unable to stay the front running pace, but the never-say-die attitude of the Anglo-American saw him fight all the way to the line to claim sixth place and 10 World Championship points.
Valentino Rossi produced one of his best rides of the season so far as he battled through the pain of cracked bones in his hand and ankle to take the flag in eighth place. Rossi started from the very back of the grid after struggling to qualify with the injury he picked up during Thursday morning's free practice session. However he made up ten positions in a brave ride to seal eight valuable championship points.
Vermeulen got off to a good start and was battling for fourth place early on, but his pace deteriorated sooner than he expected and he was forced to use all his race-craft to bring the bike home in 10th.
Assen Race results:
1 Nicky HAYDEN
2 Shinya NAKANO
3 Dani PEDROSA
4 Casey STONER
5 Kenny ROBERTS JR
6 John HOPKINS
7 Marco MELANDRI
8 Valentino ROSSI
9 Carlos CHECA
10 Chris VERMEULEN
11 Makoto TAMADA
12 Alex HOFMANN
13 Colin EDWARDS
14 Randy DE PUNIET
15 Loris CAPIROSSI
16 Ivan SILVA
17 Jose Luis CARDOSO
Not Classified
James ELLISON
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