This race was most notable for the titanic battle between Valentino Rossi and Sete Gibernau, with the Spaniard narrowly winning after a dramatic finale.

Loris Capirossi lined up third and Valentino Rossi in fourth, who suffered from a cold as well as tyre problems.

McWilliams and pole sitter Biaggi had terrible starts, dropping from second to sixth and from first to ninth.

As lap two begins, Bayliss tries to use the superior Ducati top speed to pass Gibernau at the start/finish straight, almost bumping into him as a result.

[7] Rossi's teammate and rookie Nicky Hayden tries to pass Aoki at Turn 14 but runs the bike too deep, allowing the Japanese rider to make the cutback and retake twelfth position.

Right behind the duo, Bayliss closes up and tries to take fourth place from his teammate Capirossi around the outside of Turn 1, but goes wide and has to slow back behind him.

[7]Biaggi meanwhile has passed Jacque for eighth place further back, then taking McWilliams for seventh before the entrance of Turn 13.

Biaggi - who has been slowly making up the lost ground - is now right behind his Camel Pramac Pons teammate Ukawa and overtakes him at the fast right-handed Turn 12 effortlessly, moving him up to sixth.

Lap six and Melandri tries to get back at the Australian by trying a very late lunge down his inside, only narrowly avoiding the Ducati rider as they go down into Turn 1.

Hayden passes McWilliams for eleventh at Turn 14 by going up the inside of the Northern Irishman before the climb back up to the start/finish straight.

Noriyuki Haga has crashed out at the last corner on the last lap, his bike losing grip going into Turn 14 and sliding out of contention at high speed.

At the fast Turn 9, Biaggi loses his bike and crashes out by sliding into the gravel, ending his good comeback.

On lap fifteen, Melandri is now forming a train behind him consisting of Capirossi, Checa, Ukawa and - further back - Hayden.

Gauloises Yamaha rider Alex Barros is out of the race, crashing out at the end of Turn 1 after fighting with McWilliams for tenth place.

Rossi then shadows Gibernau for half the lap, then tries to dive down the inside at Turn 13 with the Spaniard closing the door on him.

Lap twenty-two and Rossi looks to be making a move at the downhill Turn 1 hairpin, but thinks better of it and stays behind Gibernau.

[8] On lap twenty-five, Hayden is catching the Marlboro Ducati of Capirossi in fourth position, with Ukawa being a distant sixth.

Many thought that Rossi had secured the race win, but as he closed off the inside to prevent Gibernau from making a final move, the Spaniard instead took a very wide line going into Turn 14.

Using the superior traction and exit speed, he blasted past Rossi - just enough to win the race by a mere +0.060 seconds.

[7][8][9] Just as Rossi wanted to start the celebrations, he sees that Gibernau pipped him on the line, with the Spaniard erupting into joy as he just realised he won the race, with his pit wall doing likewise.

This win was Gibernau's fourth and last of the season, and Rossi's second place now meant that he has a winless streak of four races.

[7] At parc-fermé, Bayliss gets a hug from one of the Ducati crewmembers, with a disappointed Rossi looking down and probably thinking to himself what just happened.