Hayden's dream comes true.

The odds were stacked against Nicky Hayden heading into Sunday's Valencian title showdown, but the American went on to produce one of the greatest upsets in MotoGP history and take the title from five-times world champion Valentino Rossi.

After leading the championship for almost the entire season, the Repsol Honda rider began the 17th and final round eight-points behind Rossi - after devastatingly being taken out by team-mate Dani Pedrosa at Estoril - and, with Rossi then taking pole position for the title decider, Nicky looked like he'd need a miracle to defeat one of the greatest riders of all time.

But the Italian struggled to launch his Camel Yamaha off the start line and Hayden was ahead of the #46 within one lap, before charging quickly from sixth to second - after being waved past by Pedrosa - by lap three of 30. Hayden then set his sights on race leader Troy Bayliss, but when Rossi fell on lap five the Kentuckian no longer needed to become involved in what would have been a risky battle for victory and settled into a safe third behind Bayliss and Ducati team-mate Loris Capirossi.

Hayden held that position right to the flag, handing him the final 990cc world championship by just five points over Rossi, who remounted to finish 13th.

To put Hayden's achievement into perspective, he is only the second rider in history to have come from behind and won the title at the final race - and on the only previous occasion, in 1992, Wayne Rainey had been just two points behind Mick Doohan, who was also recovering from injury.

"When you dedicate your life to something and the dream comes true it feels so good," began an emotional Hayden, who has been with Repsol Honda ever since his 2003 MotoGP debut. "This is a proud day for me, the team and my family. I want to thank everybody back home and I hope they're partying back there in Owensboro.

"When I went down at the beginning of the Estoril race I thought the dream was over but I just didn't give up. Anything can happen in racing and you just keep fighting until the end. I just believe good things happen to good people and this is a great day for me.

"On the warm-up lap, when I was riding round in front of a full house, I had tears in my eyes because I knew this was the chance of a lifetime and I had to go for it. I've felt all year that this was my year - even at Estoril when Elias beat Rossi I believed it. I knew that win or lose I was going to sleep well tonight because I was gonna give it my all today.

"I got a good start and I was just fighting to get to the front in the first few laps. I saw some marks on the track and then I came round and my pit-board said "Rossi P19". Then it went to P17, P15 and P14 and it was a tough situation because I knew there was probably going to be a couple of riders pull over for him. And I knew that you can never count Valentino out - if his bike was ok then he can make up a lot of positions in a hurry.

"I didn't know if I was going to have to fight the guys ahead of me because if you get in a dogfight with Loris and Troy you know you're going to take some chances. But I stayed close enough that I felt like I was going to be able to go for it if I needed to. Then I saw "P3 OK" on my pit-board and I had faith in my team that they had figured it out that I was safe. Then I just tried to be smooth and tried to be smooth. Honestly I didn't know it was over until the chequered flag. It feels really good to beat a guy like Rossi because he's a real competitor with seven world titles and that just makes it that much more rewarding.

"I really want to thank everyone involved in the Repsol Honda Team, and Michelin because it's their 5th straight title in MotoGP so a big thanks to them too. I'm looking forward to getting that number-one plate on my RCV next year," concluded Hayden, indicating that he will replace his traditional #69 for the new era of 800cc competition.

Hayden's title is Honda's first since Rossi left the factory team for Yamaha at the end of 2003.

"During the last five laps I was praying so hard for the race to finish!" confessed Repsol team manager Makoto Tanaka. "I want say from the bottom of my heart, "Congratulations and thank you very much to Nicky". We didn't win the race today but it was such a valuable result that it was like a one-two finish. Both Nicky and Dani have done the perfect job today. We've had a very eventful season but this is a fantastic moment and we can enjoy it to the full. So I want to say thank you again to the riders who have worked very hard. Also thanks to the fans and to all our sponsors for their excellent support. Now all the team can celebrate this fantastic moment together."

"First of all I wish to congratulate Nicky and thank him for bringing the title back to Honda. He rode a good clever race today," stated Satoru Horiike, managing director of HRC. "I also have to thank Dani because he also did a good job for us today. During the season we had to put in a great effort and had to cope with some problems with the clutch but finally Nicky made it."

Hayden took his first world title with two wins and 10 podiums, combined with 16 out of a possible 17 points scoring finishes.