Hayden blown away by Ducati power
Added on Tuesday, October 28th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor
Hayden blown away by Ducati power
Nicky Hayden’s enthusiasm was clear for all to see yesterday on his debut outing with Ducati at yesterday’s post-season test.
The American made his first outing on the new Ducati GP9 yesterday in a gruelling 79-lap session and was immediately blown away with the power of the much maligned bike which proved so difficult for the likes of Marco Melandri, Toni Elias and Sylvain Guintoli.
Hayden, who quit the Repsol Honda team to join Ducati after the relationship with team bosses turned sour, recorded a best time of 1:33.960 – almost one and a half seconds slower that new teammate Casey Stoner, who posted the day’s fastest time of 1:32.464.
But the man from Kentucky was more than happy with his first attempt at taming the Ducati, sporting a unique American flag livery to announce his arrival.
“I certainly didn’t have any problem getting out of bed this morning!” joked Hayden “I enjoyed it and I can see that the potential is huge. I know it´s going to be a lot of hard work, but I´m not ready to go and hang myself either! I felt pretty comfortable with the bike, the team and everything. It has been a very intense day and full of many things to test and to understand, but it was exactly as I expected it to be.”
The experience also reinforced his respect for his new teammate, with Hayden expressing surprise at the sheer acceleration of his new machine.
“When I got in the first time I told my brother (Tommy) that I’m not sure what they pay Casey, but it’s not enough! They need to double it because the bike is a bit of an animal!
“I really want it to work. I want it to work so bad that it’s scary, and we’re up for it.”
