Hayden happy and ready to push after Mugello crash

Nicky Hayden has had a strong start to the 2010 campaign, coming close to a podium finish in the opening three rounds but just missing out before a crash at Mugello in the previous round highlighted a front-end issue on his Desmosedici GP10.

Going into round five at Silverstone this weekend the American is confident after the hard work put in by his Ducati Marlboro team, which has involved some testing in Italy in the intervening two weeks. The progress made so far this season also means Hayden is ready for what the new circuit has to offer.

“I’m pretty happy with the bike, the team and everything, I’m just not so happy with my mistake at Mugello. I tried a bit too hard there and it’s true we need to improve something in the front of the bike to give us a little more confidence,” said Hayden at the official AirAsia British Grand Prix pre-event at Lord’s cricket ground.

“The test team was at Mugello after we raced to try out a few different options, so we have a few things to try this weekend. It’s tough because it’s a new track and you don’t want to confuse things, but I feel good. The team are understanding me more and more and now we have five races in six weeks so let’s go!”

The Hayden family celebrated some good news this week when Roger Lee was confirmed as a wildcard entry for the Moto2 race at Indianapolis at the end of August, where he will ride under the leadership of former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz.

“Hopefully the team comes together in time and lets him get out and do some testing to make it a proper effort, and it looks like that will be the case,” said Hayden on his brother’s news. “Wildcards are always exciting and it will be good for him. When we first started racing we all rode 600s together in AMA which was cool, and who knows? Maybe one day we’ll all be racing MotoGP!”