MotoGP Motegi, Qualifying: Nicky Hayden “We improved but not as we should have”

Nicky Hayden improved his performance session after session at Motegi and although he narrowly missed out on the third row in qualifying, his time was not far from that of teammate Valentino Rossi. The word is up to him.

“We were unable to continue on the good path we started yesterday even if, all things considered, in terms of times we are not very far from the second group. Today the asphalt was colder, the grip was less, and the tire at maximum lean tended to slide too much. It also triggered a bit of chattering, which never appeared yesterday. We improved compared to yesterday, but not as much as we should have. We haven't changed much on the bike, trying to simplify the work and we can't be satisfied with a tenth position. Tomorrow the race will be challenging but we hope to start well and still achieve a decent result.”