John Hopkins led the field into turn one but it was Edwards who came out the other side in the lead. Randy De Puniet had some sort of problem on the warm up lap and had to start from pitlane.  No such dramas for his Kawasaki team-mate Shinya Nakano however as at the end of lap one the Japanese rider was holding down third place ahead of Nicky Hayden, Marco Melandri, Dani Pedrosa, Chris Vermeulen and Makoto Tamada.  The injured Valentino Rossi was playing it safe in 16th position.  A great battle was underway for fifth position with Melandri, Vermeulen and Pedrosa swapping paint in the turns.

Hayden took third place from Nakano on the next lap while John Hopkins was trying to stay with race leader Colin Edwards.  If the Bridgestones can hang in for the whole race distance Hopkins is in a strong position to challenge for the win.  Dunlop had been having a good showing at Assen all weekend with Checa putting in reasonably competitive times but his British team-mate James Ellison failed to carry his form through to the race after rolling into the kitty litter on lap four of the 26 lap race.  Valentino Rossi was obviously struggling with his injuries and ran off the main part of the circuit under brakes on lap four.

Hayden then managed to put in a couple of good laps to start reeling in Hopkins and Edwards.  Chris Vermeulen had got the better of the injured Melandri but the big mover was Casey Stoner who had worked his way forward from 12th place early in the race to move up to sixth place after dispensing with Roberts, Tamada, Pedrosa and then Melandri before setting his sights on countryman Chris Vermeulen. 

Hayden continued to close on Hopkins and a point that may pay dividends for the Kentucky Kid come the closing laps is that he had chosen harder Michelins than race leader Colin Edwards.

Rossi was doing his best to take some points away from Assen and was up to 12th position after seven laps.  Another banged up rider trying to achieve the same aim as Rossi was Ducati's Loris Capirossi who was running 14th place at the same stage of the race. Vermeulen had some sort of moment on lap seven which allowed Stoner, Pedrosa and Melandri to shuffled him back down to ninth place. Nakano was still in third place, 1.4 seconds behind Hayden but a significant 3.4 seconds ahead of Stoner but the LCR Honda man was lapping marginally faster, Stoner was in fact the quickest man in the field on lap eight.

Edwards was still looking strong as they started their tenth lap while Hayden finally managed to get the better of Hopkins and put his head down in an effort to catch the race leader. Vermeulen had slipped to tenth place just ahead of Carlos Checa and Valentino Rossi. Hopkins seemed to lose a little place after being passed with Hayden and it was looking as though he might slip further back into the clutches of Shinya Nakano. Pedrosa was starting to hit his straps, the diminutive Spaniard again proving stronger and stronger as the race progresses and was the fastest man on lap ten and on lap 12 got the better of Casey Stoner to move up to fifth place.  Kenny Roberts was also a mover, pushing past Melandri to move into seventh place. On lap 13 Roberts was the fastest man on the track. Nakano pushed Hopkins back to fourth and 2.4 seconds behind Hayden who continued to shadow race leader Colin Edwards, the Kentucky rider around half a second behind the Texan as the race entered its second half.

Stoner was trying to come back at Pedrosa, the Australian sitting right on the tail of the Spaniard while Kenny Roberts tried to chase them down from 1.4 seconds behind. The trio closing on John Hopkins a little more each lap and looking likely to get the better of the Suzuki man before race end.

In fact Pedrosa did exactly that well before the race end, the young Spaniard moved up to 4th place on lap 17 and it was only going to be a matter of time before Stoner pushed Hopkins further back to sixth place.  Rossi got the better of Vermeulen to take 10th place with eight laps to run.

Hayden was doing his best to try and get on terms with Edwards but the Camel Yamaha man was putting in consistent laps and was managing to maintain a gap of more than half a second on his pursuer.

Stoner pushed Hopkins back to sixth on lap 19 and shortly after that Roberts pushed Hopkins further down to seventh place.

On lap 19 Hayden managed to pull back a couple of tenths on Edwards.  Pedrosa was in third place and not really gaining too much on third placed Nakano.  In fact it looked as though Pedrosa might come under attack from astern with Casey Stoner and Kenny Roberts charging hard with their sights firmly set on the Spaniard.

Hayden then put in a brilliant lap to close right on the tail of Edwards with four and a half laps to run. Roberts was dog fighting over fifth place with Stoner, the pair very close to Pedrosa but their own private battle maybe playing into the hands of the Spaniard.

Hayden started to show a wheel to Edwards with three laps to run but it was clear that Edwards was not going to roll over and play dead. If Hayden wanted the win, he would have to put it on the line and take a chance as the pair were matched for pace.  Nakano was 6 seconds behind them in third place with a 4 second buffer over a busy triumvirate of Pedrosa, Stoner and Roberts, the trio running nose to tail with two laps to run.

Hayden backed it un under Edwards with less than 2 laps to run and Edwards tried valiantly to hold him out but tripped himself up and ran in too deep under brakes and had to stand it up.  The race was going to be Nicky Hayden's as with one lap to run he had a second on Edwards due to the Texan's mistake. Stoner pushed his way underneath Pedrosa for fourth place as they started the last lap but still nothing separated that pair and wily old fox Kenny Roberts was still right on their tail and ready to take advantage of the slightest mistake.

Edwards had not given up, he surprised Hayden with a few corners to run, Hayden wouldn't have expected that, then Hayden got him back, then Edwards got him again, then they both ran on to the grass but it was Edwards who went down.  The Texan virtually led the whole race but his day ended in tears, rider after rider streaming past him as he tried to jump start his Yamaha back into life.  Edwards managed to salvage 13th place but will be a very unhappy camper in the paddock tonight.

Hayden takes his second ever MotoGP race win and extends his lead in the championship to a very handy 42 points.  It was a photo finish for third between Stoner and Pedrosa but it was the Spaniard that got the nod for the final step on the podium which elevated him to second place in the championship to make it a Repsol Honda 1-2 at the top of the table.  The injured Loris Capirossi took a single point for his efforts to remain in third place in the series while Rossi took a very important 8 points for his eighth place finish to hold down joint fourth place with Marco Melandri.

The MotoGP World Championship reconvenes next weekend at Donington.

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