Hayden getting closer to podium finish

After winning the MotoGP championship for the Repsol Honda team, Nicky Hayden has been overshadowed by all his teammates. Is the fire back?

Former MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden’s search for a first podium of 2010 continues after the American finished the TIM TT Assen seventh, a frustrating result for the Ducati Team rider who is now keen to push harder at the next round in Catalunya.

Hayden, from the USA, qualified in fifth place for the race and had a good start, but encountered some traffic at Turn 1 as he was held up. Managing to pass Colin Edwards and Marco Simoncelli, Hayden had already lost contact with the leading packs and was unable to push fir higher than seventh.

“Seventh place isn't exactly the best but as always I'm trying to look at the positives: after making a good start on Thursday we had a difficult session on Friday morning with a breakdown and a crash, when we also wrecked a set of tires, and that obviously made things hard for us. Whilst the rest made progress with their set-up we lost ground," said Hayden.

“I got a decent start but got held up by De Puniet and was passed by a lot of riders. I managed to pass Colin and Simoncelli but lost time and even though I tried to close the gap the front end tucked a couple of times and I had to settle for seventh. It's a shame because it's our worst result of the year apart from the crash at Mugello."

Hayden is looping forward to the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya and the chance to bounce back from the relative disappointment he felt at his Assen result.

“We have a couple of days off to regroup and go again which is perfect for me. I love back to back races. We go to Catalunya which is a track I’ve been hot and cold at, it’s an awesome race in Barcelona and the Spanish fans are great. We’ll work hard there and try to get back closer to the front," he concluded.