Nicky Hayden suffered a late off in opening practice today at Motegi in Japan. That left the Ducati Marlboro Team man down in 13th and after also losing time early in the session with a technical problem he could have been forgiven for being pretty unhappy.
However he maintained that he wasn’t too bothered and with his team-mate Casey Stoner up in fourth he knows the pace is there.
“The session didn't start so well, I had a brake problem and had to come in after one lap and just generally struggled to get into a rhythm over my first couple of runs. After that we made a change and immediately I felt better and improved my time,” he reflected.
“Unfortunately halfway around my next lap I made a mistake in the hairpin and crashed. It was only a little one – I lost the front and then saved it but my left foot came up and I just tipped off the inside of the bike.
“It was a bummer because I lost quite a bit of track time and looking at my ideal lap I would have been seventh fastest.
“This track is quite unique and always takes a little bit of work on the set-up so even though things haven't gone smoothly today I am satisfied that we are close to where we need to be.”
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