MotoGP news

Hayden keeps fighting

World Champion Nicky Hayden is determined to reassert himself as a frontrunner in Sunday's 22-lap race. The 25-year-old American fought to a creditable seventh position in Turkey and was just 2.2s from a podium place. Though Hayden hasn't had the start to the season he would have wished for, he'll be looking to build on the further progress made at the test session held after the Grand Prix of Turkey. Last year's second place in China was Hayden's eight consecutive podium finish, a sequence of consistency with began with the final four races of the 2005 season.

Nicky Hayden commented on the upcoming Grand Prix: "I had a pretty decent result in China last year and we certainly need to go there and put in a strong performance this time. China is quite an unusual place: the track and the country are definitely a little bit different to what I'm used to in Kentucky.

"My favourite part of the track is probably the long right-hander heading onto the back straight. And even at 200mph that back straight goes for days, before you hit the hardest braking corner on the circuit. Obviously though, long straights are not our strongest point right now so I hope we can make some progress there.

"I'm looking forward to getting back to into a routine of races as the season really gets going and hopefully I can go to China, take a step forward and get up front. Although the final result at Turkey wasn't a lot better than the first two races, it was fun to be up there in the mix and battle for the podium spots right in front of me. We've just got to keep moving forward, get a good grid position and fight at the front."

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