MotoGP – Misano Day 1 – Nicky Hayden confident for qualifying

The first day of testing in Misano Adriatico for the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix saw Nicky Hayden achieve the tenth best time. The American rider, on the podium in Indianapolis and already with a renewal for next season with Ducati, said he is confident for tomorrow where he hopes to be able to make some improvements to the bike.

“It's not bad for a first day: even if tenth position isn't the best, the reality is that we are now well placed in the second group. The first outing was problematic but we had prepared a different set up on the second bike which I immediately liked, both for the "grip" and for the behavior of the bike in corners. We then continued to work on those setups, making further progress, but unfortunately on my fastest lap I had to pass a slower driver in T3, losing at least a couple of tenths. If it hadn't been for that I think I could have been quite far ahead. The bike goes very well in one part of the track: in T2 and T4 I have the third and fourth best intermediate respectively, but T1 is not exceptional and in T3 I have the third to last partial time. We therefore need to understand what isn't working in those sectors and also improve the "top speed" a little but we are working well and I have a good feeling with both the hard tires and the softer ones. Tomorrow we have to take a step forward but we didn't get off to a bad start."