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Hayden Says He's Fully Fit for Japan

Even if he suffered a serious accident in the qualifying stage of the Qatar Grand Prix, Nicky Hayden is confident he'll get a strong performance in this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix. Hayden had an accident at Losail last weekend and, even if he insisted he wasn't injured following the crash, he admitted that he felt severe pain in the back.

After conducting some x-rays test at the circuit medical center and a series of detailed tests at the local hospital, Hayden started the Qatar race with three stitches on his chest. Nevertheless, the Ducati rider is now fully fit and expects a good result this weekend.

"Physically I'm okay - no doubt the race was tough because I was pretty beaten up but I've recovered well and I don't expect to have any problems in Japan," said Hayden.

"I'll probably go to the Clinica on Thursday to have the stitches removed and that will be the end of the matter."

Nicky Hayden finished 12th in the season opener at Qatar, 48.883 seconds behind winner Casey Stoner. The American admitted he expected to do better in the first Grand Prix of the new championship but reckoned that the performance increase he showed in the second half of the Losail race lets him to hope for better results in the upcoming race.

"My first GP with Ducati didn't exactly go as I'd hoped but we took some positives out of it," Hayden said. "I lapped quicker in the second half of the race than I had done all weekend and above all I felt comfortable on the bike.

"Hopefully this will help us work out what it is exactly that I need to improve my feeling with the bike because being so far off the pace in practice wasn't cool."
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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