Hayden hopeful ahead of home race
Added on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Hayden is playing down expectation ahead of US Grand Prix
Nicky Hayden has downplayed his chances of a home victory in the 4th July US Grand Prix, admitting that he can only “hope that it will come.”
Hayden heads to Laguna Seca this weekend as yet another rider who has struggled to get to grips with the Desmosedici GP9, with the former world champion currently sitting 13th in the rider’s standings.
Results have improved of late for The Kentucky Kid, with two top ten finishes in the last two rounds including a best result of the season last week in Assen following recent changes in the Ducati camp.
But Hayden is still keeping his feet on the ground and was careful not to build up the expectation amongst American fans.
“We still have a lot of work to do but it has been nice to see a little progress over the last few weeks and at Laguna I really need to take another big step,” he said.
“All I know to do is keep trying and working at it and hope it will come.
“Laguna is a great track and very challenging. There are a few points that stick out but in general it is different to most tracks, which usually have a few different sections, whereas Laguna is basically just one section and you have to put it all together to make a good lap.
“This year we’re racing in America on the Fourth of July weekend and it’s perfect - I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holiday than at the US Grand Prix!
“This will be the first time my American fans get to see me on a Ducati so that will be cool because there are a lot of strong Ducati fans in the States. No predictions or anything, but we’ll go full gas and see what happens.”
