Hayden on Laguna: ‘We’ll go full gas’

Although Indianapolis has now become Nicky Hayden’s true home event, the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca is always a special weekend on the calendar for the Kentuckian rider.

Hayden made history when he won the first race at the Californian track after it’s re-emergence on the MotoGP schedule in 2005 - after a ten year absence - and then repeated the victory in 2006 en route to the World title, writing his name into Laguna folklore.

This year, after a DNF in 2007 and fifth place last year, Hayden is appearing on American soil for the first time as a Ducati rider and is determined to put on a good show for the fans, despite his modest start to the season.

“This year we’re racing in America on the 4th of July weekend and it’s perfect,” he enthused. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the holiday than at the US GP! Also the fact my brothers will be racing on the same weekend in the AMA championship helps make it special for me. 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 Ducati fans in the states. No predictions or anything but we’ll go full gas and see what happens.”

Looking to make progress from 15th in the championship, with just 26 points gained thus far in 2009, Hayden has his a good opportunity this weekend at his best track. “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,” the former Honda man continued.

“I don’t have any big plan or anything, it’s not that easy! 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.”