Kawasaki's substitute MotoGP rider, Jamie Hacking, brought his borrowed Ninja ZX-RR home in an impressive eleventh place on his premier-class debut at Laguna Seca on Sunday.

The 37-year-old AMA Superbike star, deputising for injured compatriot John Hopkins, started the 32-lap USGP from the last row of the grid, but was quick to make up places in the early stages of the race.

"I'm thrilled!" he said afterwards. "I didn't get the best of starts from the back of the grid, but if I'm honest I was little relieved to see everyone pulling away and leaving me to ride my own race early on. With a fairly clear track I was able to find a good rhythm on the bike, and I was soon lapping in the low 1'23s bracket."

Hacking fought his way past Colin Edwards and Loris Capirossi on lap 12, then put in a pass on Toni Elias to move into tenth place behind AMA Superbike rival, and good friend, Ben Spies.

'The Hacker' spent a number of laps looking for a way past his fellow countryman, until the Suzuki pilot looked back and realised just who was putting him under pressure.

"I fought my way up to Ben Spies, and I was just thinking to have a bit of a breather when he looked back and saw who was behind him," he revealed. "As soon as he saw it was me he upped the pace and managed to pull enough of a gap that I couldn't quite stay with him."

Hacking looked all set to achieve his goal of a top ten finish, but a resurgent Toni Elias managed to squeeze past the three-time AMA champion in the closing stages of the race, relegating him back to eleventh at the chequered flag - still six places ahead of Kawasaki's full time grand prix rider Anthony West.

"The bike was working great, and the lap times were pretty consistent throughout the race, but then Toni Elias managed to work his way past me towards the end, which meant I just missed out on matching Roger Lee's tenth place finish from last year," said Hacking, who set the ninth fastest lap of the race.

"Even so, I've really enjoyed my weekend as a MotoGP racer and I'd like to thank Kawasaki for giving me the opportunity. Everyone made me feel really welcome, and they are a great team to work with," he concluded.