MotoGP Austin - 'It was as bad as it looked' - Hayden

Nicky Hayden was downcast at the end of his 21 laps at Austin. The American had, like his compatriots, hoped to put on a good show in front of the 61,000 home crowd but the usual Ducati problems, plus first-lap errors, put paid to that hope.

The former world champion had struggled all weekend to get the Desmosedici to change direction, particularly through the fast esses section, saying that by the time he got to the end, he was completely lost.

"It was about as bad as it looked. I couldn't expect a miracle for the race but I can't be happy with that. Getting beaten by a long way at home is frustrating, like it is anywhere. It's a tough one but we will re-group. I made a couple of mistakes in the opening laps and didn't move up like I should have,” said Hayden, speaking to bikesportnews at Austin.

"In the esses I struggled all weekend. A little bit in the first one and by the time I got to the end, I was completely lost. Couldn't change direction very quick and couldn't finish the corner. When they are all connected it gets worse, worse, worse. 

"At the moment, I am having a hard time coming up with any positives. My pace in the race was a lot better than the weekend. We gambled on race setup more than we normally would. We have to be realistic about Jerez. I'm not going from ninth to podium overnight but we weren't too far off in the test.”

By David Miller

Image by Bonnie Lane