On lap 24, the American lost sixth place to de Puniet and by the time the field came round again, the ‘Texas Tornado' liveried Honda had lost two more places, with Tamada and West having demoted the home rider to ninth place – West having earlier slipped past Nakano in the mid-field battle. Nakano had then lost further places, with Roger Lee Hayden and Alex Barros having got ahead of him in the train.
By this point, Kurtis Roberts, Duhamel and Hayden had all joined Capirossi in retirement while Davies had lost time in the pits with a broken sprocket and was now running with Hopkins, two laps behind the rest of the field.
Over the closing laps, the fight for sixth would continue to be the main focus of interest, although the squabble between Tamada and West for seventh would prove to give de Puniet time to open up a slender lead over the group behind that would allow the Frenchman to secure a top six finish. West took seventh after getting ahead of Tamada on lap 29, while Barros would secure ninth after taking Hayden on the final lap. However a top ten finish for the younger member of the Hayden clan was still a good way to celebrate his
MotoGP bow. The notable absentee from the top ten was Edwards, who had continued his trip the wrong way down the order and could only take eleventh place – both Hayden and Barros having passed the ailing Honda three laps from home on a disappointing day for the home riders.
Nakano finished in twelfth ahead of the second Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha of
Sylvain Guintoli with Carlos Checa in 14th being the final rider to finish on the lead lap.
Two laps further back, Hopkins took the final point in 15 while Davies secured a finish on his MotoGP debut – the young Briton setting some encouraging lap times late in the race comparable with riders with much more experience under their belts.
US Grand Prix:
1. Stoner
2. Vermuelen
3. Melandri
4. Rossi
5. Pedrosa
6. de Puniet
7. West
8. Tamada
9. Barros
10. Roger Lee Hayden
11. Edwards
12. Nakano
13. Guintoli
14. Checa
15. Hopkins
16. Davies
17.
Nicky Hayden
18. Duhamel
19. Roberts
20. Capirossi
