Ducati Still Focused On Hayden's Progress

Nicky Hayden

Although his season so far has been nothing but disappointing, American rider Nicky Hayden received a boost from his Ducati boss Livio Suppo for the remainder of 2009. While insisting that the Italian manufacturer will continue to push hard to give Casey Stoner the best possible package to clinch the MotoGP title, Suppo also insisted Hayden's progress is closely watched upon by Ducati.

Suppo argued that Hayden's adaptation problems with the Desmosedici GP9 are strictly related to the fact that the Kentuckian has, until this year, competed on a different Honda machinery. Hayden showed slight signs of improvement two weekends ago, he qualifying 6th on the grid of the Catalunya GP. He eventually finished the race in 10th place.

“We need to continue to give our maximum both to Casey, who is fighting in one of the closest championship battles for years, and to Nicky, who has shown that he has the ability to adapt to the characteristics of our bike, which is more difficult for him than it is for other riders because he had spent so many years on the same machine before this,” said Suppo in a preview for the upcoming Dutch GP at Assen.

Further on, the Italian boss insisted that Ducati will come to Assen better prepared for a race win, something that was not out of their reach in Catalunya also. However, it was Stoner's illness that then prevented the Italian outfit from challenging for the Spanish win.

“The weekend in Barcelona was really important for us. We started to see the fruit of all the hard work being done by Filippo and his guys, as well as Vitto, and it looks like the development route we’re taking with the GP9 promises to make it even more competitive,” added Suppo.

Stoner is currently sharing the top spot in the overall classification with the two Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, while teammate Hayden is on a disappointing 15th place. The two Ducati riders have won a race each at Assen in the past, Stoner in 2008 and Hayden in 2006.