Ducati Praying for Good Weather in Spain

Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner

There's something about the rain that makes the two Ducati riders – Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden – uncertain of their on-track results this year. After a rainy first event in Qatar, the weather continued to play tricks on the MotoGP caravan 2 weeks later, in Japan – with the qualifying session at Motegi being cancelled due to rain.

Now, with the 3rd round of the MotoGP calendar, ar Jerez, only hours away, Stoner is also praying for good weather. According to the 2007 MotoGP champion, his Ducati GP9 could perform at its best if rain doesn't show up on the Jerez circuit this weekend. While admitting the Spanish track is not one of Ducati's favorites this season, he is confident he'll find a good set-up for this weekend's race.

“I think we’ve taken a step forward in this area with the GP9 and as long as we don’t get bad weather or some other kind of setback then we should find a good set-up for Jerez. Some of our better tracks are coming up later in the season but if we stay focused and keep working as we are doing then we can still put some decent results on the board,” said Stoner.

Teammate Hayden, who had a disappointing first couple of races – scoring a 12th place in Qatar and a DNF at Motegi – is also hoping he'll see a clear sky on both Saturday and Sunday. Otherwise, he sees little chances of making the Top 10 this weekend.

“At the moment it looks like the forecast is good but it seems as though somebody upstairs likes seeing MotoGP riders in the wet. Joking aside, it would be nice to have a ‘normal’ weekend so that we can work properly on the bike. I want my season to finally get going,” argued the Kentuckian.

While Stoner is currently trailing Valentino Rossi for 2nd place overall (only 2 points behind), Hayden rests on a distant 15th place in the riders' classification.