Nicky Hayden – (Ducati MotoGP Team) (5th in the race; 13th in the championship on 104 points)

“I thought it might be possible to do a little better than that today but I didn’t get the best start. The clutch was slipping a little bit down the first couple of straightaways and I lost some positions. After that I managed to pull myself up again and from there it was a case of doing my best to try and bridge the gap to Colin (Edwards). The bike was working quite well but every time I closed a tenth or two he had an answer and pulled it back out. Towards the end I had some issues in a couple of left-handers and my pace dropped too much. Anyway, I had an enjoyable race, going back and forth with a few guys at the beginning especially. It’s not a spectacular result but we’ve end the season with two top fives and we know we have a direction to work in over the winter.

It hasn’t been a great season for me in terms of results but the improvements we have made since the start are huge and I’m excited about the future. We’re thirteenth overall, which looks awful on paper, but we are only eleven points off seventh and I had three first-lap incidents that weren’t my fault – just one of those could have made the difference. Next season starts tomorrow and I can’t wait to get back to work! There will be some changes in the team and a few guys leaving who I will miss. I want to thank them because even though it’s on old saying it really is true that Ducati is like a family. All I can say is good luck to them and I’m looking forward to welcoming the new guys in.”

Two top five finishes in the final two rounds could not lift Nicky Hayden any higher than 13th in the final standings but he is ready to start the hard work for Ducati’s 2010 project this week in Valencia.

Nicky Hayden is no stranger to hard work and is a big fan of testing his MotoGP machinery whenever he gets the chance, so after a frustrating first season with the Ducati Marlboro team – which has seen him suffer bad luck on several occasions – the American rider will be an enthusiastic participant in this week’s three day Valencia test.

It would be no surprise to see Hayden total up more laps than any of his MotoGP rivals this week on the latest model of the Desmosedici, as the former World Champion completes a year since first testing with the Italian factory at the end of last season.

Reading through the final 2009 World Championship classification after the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana will be an uncomfortable experience for the Kentuckian competitor, but Hayden has undoubtedly been on an upwards trend throughout the year and Sunday brought him a second top five result in two races.

“It’s not spectacular, but we’ve ended the season with two top fives and we know we have a direction to work in over the winter,” stated Hayden after the Valencia race. “It hasn’t been a great season for me in terms of results but the improvements we have made since the start are huge and I’m excited about the future. We’re 13th overall, which looks awful on paper, but we are only eleven points off seventh and I had three first-lap incidents that weren’t my fault – just one of those could have made the difference. Next season starts on Monday and I can’t wait to get back to work.”

Reviewing the final race of the year in detail, Hayden also commented, “I thought it might be possible to do a little better but I didn’t get the best start. The clutch was slipping a little bit down the first couple of straights and I lost some positions. After that I managed to pull myself up again and from there it was a case of doing my best to try and bridge the gap to Colin (Edwards).”

“The bike was working quite well but every time I closed a tenth or two he had an answer and pulled it back out. Towards the end I had some issues in a couple of left-handers and my pace dropped too much. Anyway, I had an enjoyable race, going back and forth with a few guys at the beginning especially.”

Nicky ended out his first season at Ducati with a 5th place at Valencia, a big improvement on his Duc debut at Qatar! His 5th place awarded him a rather lowly 13th in the overall standings, but only 11 points off Toni Elias in 7th, so it’s not as bad a result as it might look!

Hopefully next year he won’t get taken out in the first corner as often has been the case this season! All the best for testing and the off season!

Nicky took 4th in this morning’s warm up, hopefully the race will go just as well!

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′32.856 312.680
2 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′33.460 308.747 0.604
3 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1′33.744 306.296 0.888
4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′33.820 310.077 0.964
5 11 Ben SPIES USA Sterilgarda Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′33.823 308.395 0.967
6 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′33.825 310.077 0.969
7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′33.934 308.924 1.078
8 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 1′33.945 314.044 1.089
9 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′34.017 311.778 1.161
10 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 1′34.105 308.219 1.249
11 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′34.187 313.679 1.331
12 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1′34.351 307.429 1.495
13 44 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 1′34.378 306.905 1.522
14 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′34.516 307.254 1.660
15 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′34.615 309.810 1.759
16 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1′34.638 305.084 1.782
17 41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 1′34.897 306.469 2.041
18 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′35.167 303.200 2.311

Here’s what Nicky had to say about qualifying 6th-

Nicky Hayden– (Ducati MotoGP Team) (6th; 1’33.154)

“We have made a lot of progress from yesterday but we have had to work hard and make huge changes to the bike. I know it’s not usually a good sign when you can’t roll something competitive out on a Friday but that’s what we’re aiming for and for the moment my team are doing a great job in the time we have available. The bike was more much enjoyable to ride today and after being fifth this morning I was hoping for the same result this afternoon because that is my worst qualifying result here at Valencia.

We’ll take sixth though – it’s not my best qualifying position but from where we started the year in Qatar I think I was last on the grid and in the hospital so to end it with a second-row start is pleasing. Tomorrow is going to be a tough one as always but we’ll try to get a good start, make sure we don’t get squeezed in down in turn one and have some fun. I’m looking forward to it.”