Shinya Nakano
Lap three and Rossi has closed the gap to leader Roberts Jr by now. Jacque, making good use of a good exit of the final corner, retakes eighth from Hayden but with Capirossi using his Ducati speed on the start/finish straight before Turn 1, he passes both riders, demoting the Frenchman to ninth and the American to tenth place. Van den Goorbergh also managed to pass both Barros and Hayden at the first sector, then passes Capirossi on the inside of Turn 7 by taking a tighter line for ninth position, with Jacque also having passed the Italian earlier on to reclaim eighth place. Jacque's teammate Shinya Nakano retires from the race due to technical problems. Jacque then takes two positions in two corners - one by diving down the inside of Melandri at Turn 11 for seventh and the other by exiting better out of Turn 12 to pass Hopkins at the beginning of the long straight. Hopkins goes up the inside of Melandri for sixth at the end of the long straight, with Jacque and Van den Goorbergh right behind the battling duo.