Toni Elías
Going into the penultimate round of the season in Portugal, Rossi took pole position on Saturday. On Sunday, Hayden was taken out by his teammate Dani Pedrosa on lap 5, causing both riders to retire. On the last lap, Toni Elías who was in third place, overtook both Kenny Roberts Jr. and Rossi to take the lead. Rossi eventually got back in front, but Elías shot past him at the final corner and won the race with a minuscule 0.002 second advantage over Rossi. This led to Rossi taking the points lead with 8 points going into the last round of the year.