The American qualified 16th and finished 12th last season, a result that contributed to what had become a difficult start to life as a Ducati rider.

However, twelve months on and Hayden has revived his fortunes, gelling well with the GP10 to take on team leader Casey Stoner and sit fifth in the standings with a trio of fourth place finishes to his name.

With this in mind, he is confident he can make amends for last year with a much better performance for his employers.

“I can’t wait to go to Mugello and banish the memory of last year, when I was quite slow in front of the Italian fans and so many people from Ducati. Actually things went better in the race than they had done in practice but then I suffered a problem with my rear brake and the result was anything but good.

“We’re going into a run of races that could be quite decent for us and we’re confident. Mugello is a circuit that can be really nice to ride or really tough, depending on whether you can get your bike working well and have a good set-up.

“If you manage that you can have some serious fun. I’m expecting to see a lot of Ducati fans so hopefully I can have fun and they can too.”

Both Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden have shown their appreciation for the technical modifications brought to the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 by Filippo Preziosi, in particular the new “big bang” engine. Both riders are looking to repeat their excellent preseason form when they take to the Losail circuit for the first time on Friday evening, as the 2010 season finally roars into life.

Nicky Hayden, Ducati MotoGP Team

“Finally the first race is here! We seem to have started later than everybody else and I don’t know if I could have waited any longer! Testing went fairly well – we met some of our objectives and still have a lot of work to do in other areas but overall I’m satisfied. We established a good base setting in Qatar and hopefully we can use that for the first race. It has been a couple of years since I made a good start to the season but I feel in good shape, the team are fully behind me and I can’t wait to get started.”

Ducati Marlboro rider Nicky Hayden is brimming with enthusiasm ahead of this weekend’s Iveco Australian Grand Prix, having enjoyed three podium finishes ‘Down Under’ to date.

Hayden has a top-ten finish for the 2009 MotoGP season well within his sights, having steadily improved his form throughout the campaign after a tough start.

The Kentucky Kid is targeting another strong finish at Phillip Island after coming in third last year at the circuit, and with the track record to his name it is a venue which inspires the 2006 World Champion.

“Phillip Island is a track and place I really like. The track is great – it’s fast, flowing and a lot of fun,” said Hayden, who has twice qualified on pole position there. “I hope we can get some decent weather because the place can be really challenging when it’s cold – there are not so many right-hand corners so it can take a few laps to heat and scuff the right side of the tyre. I also enjoy the flyaways at the end of the year because it’s a little different in terms of atmosphere with all the teams traveling together and staying in the same hotels – you see a different side of people.”

“So we’ve got three more races left before the end of the season and I really hope and need to make another step up toward the front. I really need to dig deep and try to make it happen.”

Livio Suppo, the MotoGP Project Director at Ducati Marlboro, is hoping Hayden and his team-mate Casey Stoner – who has won at Phillip Island for the last two years – repeat their past glories. The pair enjoyed an entertaining battle last year when Hayden was still riding a Honda.

“It is always nice to go to Philip Island. It is a magical track and it is full of fantastic memories for our team. Last year Casey and Nicky had a great battle for the lead over several laps and it would be a dream come true to see them recreate that on their Ducatis,” said Suppo.

As per usual with every American GP, Nicky has another special helmet design for this weekend’s Indianapolis GP! While not quite as “explosive” as his 4th of July firecracker helmet specially made for the American GP at Laguna Seca, this design for Indy features the name of the Make a Wish Foundation, a great cause and one Nicky has supported for the majority of his career in MotoGP.

Nicky talks about his helmet design in the preview for the Indianapolis GP, below-

Nicky Hayden, Ducati MotoGP Team (14th in the championship on 57 points)

“Indianapolis is probably the race I look forward to most – it’s just three hours from my house and MotoGP now is becoming very popular. Last year it was a great weekend for me, the crowd was great and Indy did a great job in organizing their first race and made us proud of it. I would love to have another good weekend like that one. So far we have had a tough season and I would like to go there in a more confident mood but it is what it is and for sure we’ll go there and just do the absolute maximum.

I like the track itself even though it’s quite flat. The most challenging thing is that it has different kinds of asphalt on different parts of the track so it will be a challenge to find out where there is grip, where not, and to find the best set-up. Hopefully we won’t have another hurricane, the weather should be fine, so we will see how it goes.

Last but not least, at Indy I will wear a special helmet, but this time it really is “special “. It will carry the “Make a Wish” logo and other special designs, and after the race we will auction it off. All the money will go toward the Foundation which helps kids’ dreams come true. There will be pictures up on my web site to see it at nickyhayden.com. I have worked with this charity for 5 years now and it always feels good to help out such a solid cause, and yes, I have already made my wish for the weekend.”

Source: Nicky’s Official Site