Shinya Nakano
On lap four, Stoner shadowed Vermeulen's moves and overtook him at Turn 7 for third place. Vemeulen tried to fight back in acceleration, but by Turn 8 he was relegated to fourth, with Melandri ramping up the pressure as well after Melandri also took fifth from Hayden. Gibernau and Hopkins meanwhile opened up a significant gap to Stoner. Rossi meanwhile overtook Shinya Nakano for twelfth on the straight before Turn 9. Before Turn 12, Melandri overtook Vermeulen - who started to have tyre problems -, with Hayden following suit at Turn 14.