Hayden dominates on home turf

A small victory for the Aussies with Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) securing pole position and leading for more than half the race, before falling back through the field with mechanical problems, eventually finishing fifth. Casey Stoner (LCR Honda) crashed out on lap 11. Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha) qualified tenth at one of his least favourite tracks, but through attrition and pace had fought his way up to fourth, when the cooling system on his Yamaha M1 malfunctioned, the engine swiftly cooking itself in the 39 air/60 track temperature. With less than two laps to the finish Rossi was forced to park the bike and score no points for the weekend. Pedrosa's second place was an impressive result for a track he's never seen before, particularly in light of recent resurfacing that left ripples and bumps in crucial areas. Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda) was a distant third, closely followed by Kenny Roberts Jr (Team Roberts), who continues to impress following the team's switch to Honda engines.

MotoGP Results: 1.Hayden, 2. Pedrosa, 3. Melandri, 4. Roberts Jr, 5. Vermeulen, 6. Hopkins, 7. Checa, 8. Capirossi, 9. Edwards, 10. Gibernau.

Championship standings MotoGP:
Nicky Hayden 194, Dani Pedrosa 160, Marco Melandri 150, Valentino Rossi 143, Loris Capirossi 126, Casey Stoner 91, Colin Edwards 84, Kenny Roberts Jr 79, John Hopkins 74, Shinya Nakano 67.

Note: 250 and 125cc classes did not compete at Laguna Seca.