Nicky Hayden is confident that he could have got up to speed on the Ducati GP9 much faster without the testing ban that the MotoGP teams agreed for 2009.
In an effort to cut costs after Kawasaki’s departure, MotoGP followed Formula 1’s lead and introduced substantial restrictions on testing this season. After the three pre-season tests, only single days at Barcelona and Assen took place during the championship – in contrast to previous years when there were more winter sessions and one or two day post-race tests at the majority of events.
Hayden has become more competitive in recent rounds – taking his first podium for Ducati at Indianapolis – but was off the pace at the start of the year, and now rues the lack of opportunities for more mileage.
“At Barcelona we had one test, and at the time I thought the test wasn’t that good, but as soon as we went to Assen I immediately felt a step in those next races,” he said.
“And then again at Brno – at the time we tested a few things and it wasn’t really clear, but I spent a whole day on the bike just testing and riding, and again we went to Indy and were another step better. It certainly makes me wish I had more testing.”
The American is confident he has now turned a corner and can stay with the front-runners for the rest of the season.
“When I ride the bike now, I feel a lot more comfortable,” he said. “I enjoy it. You’ve got to enjoy what you’re doing, and at times it was miserable.
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, I don’t want to get carried away. But we’ve made some progress with the team, and me and [crew chief] Juan [Martinez] working together. We only started together at the fourth race of the season, that took a bit of time.”
Ducati confirmed before Indianapolis that Hayden would be retained for the 2010 season, ending rumours that Dani Pedrosa could take his place. Hayden said he was relieved that all his efforts to improve this year would not be in vain.
“It would have been a real shame, if you look at where we came from the first three or four races to where we are now, to go and start again would have been a shame for me and for Ducati,” he said.
“We’re just now starting to get real good communication, feeling at home in the team and on the bike. Hopefully we can have a good strong last part of the season, another off-season testing together, and start the season next year much stronger.”
He was extremely frustrated to be taken out at the first corner of last weekend’s Misano race by Alex de Angelis. Hayden had qualified sixth and reckoned he was on course for his strongest race of the season.
“That was certainly the best race pace I’ve had, and it was a shame because I could have really learned some stuff in that race and gained some experience on this bike near the front group,” he said. “I really was looking forward to that race on the grid more than any race this year.”
Source: Autosport
As you’ve probably seen by now, hometown riders tend to get a little over-excited and don’t always think before they make a move in their home GP. As Colin Edwards put it (bluntly), Alex de Angelis took this one step further, with the “dumbass trying to do something heroic in his home race”, which, of course, failed and sadly, Edwards and Nicky Hayden were caught up in the chain reaction. Nicky made sure he gave de Angelis a piece of his mind in the gravel trap, though stopped short of throwing a punch in his direction. (Much classier than the headbutting witnessed by Andrea Iannone in the 125cc race earlier on.)
Nicky looked in good shape for a big points score today, but instead, loses 2 positions in the championship… better luck next time, and hope de Angelis is far behind him on the grid!
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Total time Km/h Gap
1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 44′32.882 159.371
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 44′35.298 159.227 2.416
3 16 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 44′45.282 158.635 12.400
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 44′59.212 157.816 26.330
5 11 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 44′59.421 157.804 26.539
6 10 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 45′01.168 157.702 28.286
7 9 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 45′03.066 157.591 30.184
8 8 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 45′04.639 157.500 31.757
9 7 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 45′04.791 157.491 31.909
10 6 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 45′11.229 157.117 38.347
11 5 44 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 45′19.555 156.636 46.673
12 4 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 45′24.923 156.327 52.041
13 3 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 45′36.080 155.690 1′03.198
14 2 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 45′55.229 154.608 1′22.347Not finished 1st lap
15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda
5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha
69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati
Source: MotoGP.com
Nicky’s looking good for some big points today, taking 5th place in this morning’s warm up session at Misano!
1 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′34.894 269.797
2 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′35.222 276.356 0.328
3 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′35.487 272.108 0.593
4 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1′35.580 269.528 0.686
5 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′35.608 271.493 0.714
6 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′35.639 272.177 0.745
7 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1′35.913 270.270 1.019
8 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′36.115 274.739 1.221
9 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′36.328 274.459 1.434
10 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1′36.510 270.608 1.616
11 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′36.608 272.452 1.714
12 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′36.611 267.591 1.717
13 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1′36.796 269.125 1.902
14 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1′36.840 270.676 1.946
15 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′36.858 269.528 1.964
16 44 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 1′37.304 269.326 2.410
17 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1′37.371 269.662 2.477
After qualifying in 6th place at Misano, Nicky talked about his session and what we can expect from him and the Ducati tomorrow.
Nicky Hayden – 6th
“This morning I had a really good feeling with the bike and put together a good rhythm – I was fastest in T4 and that’s the first time this year I’ve been fastest at anything in the dry! I’d hoped to improve and do my best dry qualifying of the year this afternoon but to begin with the track was a little warmer and I didn’t get that same level of feeling, so we had to make some tweaks to the set-up. Like I say, I’d hoped to do better than what I did but we got on the second row and our focus turns to tomorrow. I need to get a great start because those first two or three turns are going to be harsh – everybody will be fighting for positions and there’s a good chance of some drama there! We want to get through that cleanly and as high up the order as possible in the early stages. From there it’s a case of giving my maximum for all the Italian fans and trying to put their bike up front. It is great to have their support here and all the staff from Bologna – Claudio (Domenicali), Filippo (Preziosi), Vitto (Guareschi), Alan (Jenkins)… It’s fun and I’m enjoying having them around so hopefully we can celebrate a result together tomorrow.”
Source: MotoGP.com
DOB: July 30, 1981
