Bayliss led into turn one from the lights with his team-mate Capirossi tucked close behind him and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC211V) third. Hayden lay sixth at turn one on lap one. But in the space of three turns he was fourth, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V) had deprived Rossi of sixth, and Dani was then in second after passing Capirossi.

The opening laps were a hard-fought demonstration of what makes MotoGP such a compelling sport. Nicky went to third on lap two, then almost snatched the lead from Bayliss at the end of the straight on lap four, with Melandri now third. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) was working on Rossi for sixth. Rossi was perhaps biding his time, waiting to establish a rhythm, before making progress up the field shadowing the flying Hayden.

Hayden, for what it was worth, had changed the design of his leathers for this all-or-nothing race. Gone was the Kentucky Kid logo across the seat of the suit in favor of a deck of cards with the facing card a question mark – and a stack of gambling chips, with the slogan ‘All In’ laid over the top. He was riding all out – no question.

On lap five, the lap that decided the direction of the 2006 World MotoGP Championship, Nicky was 0.3 seconds behind the inspired Troy Bayliss. And as Rossi hit the mid-point of the left-hand turn one, his machine slid from under him. The Italian and his Yamaha ended in the dirt, his title chances effectively over. He remounted in 20th place with a mountain to climb.

The order was Bayliss, Capirossi, Hayden, Melandri, Pedrosa, Stoner and Vermeulen. Rossi had too much to do and as long as Hayden could maintain third while Rossi lay lower than eighth, he could, against all pre-race odds, claim the title in a series in which he had scored in every round and won two races.

As mid-race rolled by Rossi had climbed to 16th, but he was a full 28 seconds behind race leader Bayliss. Then Vermeulen crashed and the thought loomed that sheer attrition might gift Rossi the places he needed to eat into Hayden’s chances. But as it became clear Rossi had too much to do, Nicky merely reeled off the laps he needed to clinch the biggest prize on two wheels. Mister Consistency, the ‘All-in’ Kentucky Kid, was not going throw away a lifetime’s dream and the product of four hard years dedicated to this particular task. Congratulations to Nicky and the entire Repsol Honda Team!

FIM MotoGP World Championship Results, Rd. 17
1. Troy Bayliss – Ducati
2. Loris Capirossi – Ducati
3. Nicky Hayden – Honda
4. Dani Pedrosa – Honda
5. Marco Melandri – Honda
6. Toni Elias – Honda
7. Shinya Nakano – Kawasaki
8. Kenny Roberts Jr. – Team Roberts/Honda
9. Colin Edwards – Yamaha
10. Carlos Checa – Yamaha