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American dream for Nicky Hayden

2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden finally celebrated his first podium finish with the Ducati team at Indianapolis on Sunday after what has been a trying first season with the Italian marque so far. The local hero enjoyed his most competitive weekend of the year to date and achieved the top three result after climbing from sixth on the grid.

Indy crowds saw Hayden's first podium finish since 2008

Having struggled to get to grips with the Ducati this year, Hayden's recent run of strong form was confirmed by his Indianapolis result at the weekend. "It feels great to be on the podium here at Indianapolis and I want to thank all the team, my friends, family and fans for their support because this has been a tough season and I've needed every one of them," a gracious Nicky said after his twelfth race with Ducati.

"I was really careful at the start because I watched the 125cc race earlier on and the guy in my grid position made a jump start - it made me think that I really didn't want to do that today! As a result, I didn't get a great start but I saw Lorenzo charge past a few guys - making a hole in the pack - so I tried to follow him."

Nicky joins de Angelis and race winner Lorenzo on the podium

As Pedrosa and then Rossi lost control of fell from their bikes over the course of the race, Nicky still had a Repsol Honda to deal with. "Dovizioso came on strong at the end so I gave myself a little pep talk and made sure I was ready for whatever he had!" Hayden smiled. "He was going to have to come up with something special to keep me off the podium here at Indy! Thankfully, I kept it together and brought it home.

"We don't have long to the next race at Misano but I'm in the mood for a little party tonight…my buddies have seen the sun come up every day since Friday but hopefully they've got something left in the tank for me!"

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