MOTOGP » Hayden: Home fifth as hard as a win

Good going Nicky! It was nice to see a smile on your face at the end of a race. Hope this progression up the standings keeps going.

I'd be very very surprised if he can keep the momentum up 5th at his home round is average, maybe one more good result at Indy but normal service for Hayden at the tail end will resume next round

Well done Nicky UP TO THE PODIUM now

Great race by Nicky. Finaly something to cheer about.
I would like to think that Nicky will be able to ride in the top 10 from now on, beacouse pepole tend to put too much in to the "home track" advantage here in Laguna for him.
He knows all the tracks, and if he's finaly dailed in the electronics he should be a regular top 10 rider from now on.Not just battling for a 12th or 13th place...

I know its only a 5th but its showign that progress is being made. Im pleased for Nicky. I think another important thing to note is not so much that it was a 5th place but how much closer he is getting to Stoner which I would say is a more important benchmark than overall position. Admitedly Stoner isn't well but he hasn't been well at the last 3 races and we have seen some good pregress from Nicky. Whether you like Nicky or not as a race fan it would be good to see another Ducati at the front. Then when the honda boys can both stay on the bike we will start to get some really great racing!

Good race put in by Nicky. Had a good start and a couple of nice overtaking moves to get by Colin and Toni. Elias is a tough sucker to get around. The guy rides so wide. And it seems that his Honda has benefited from the chassis updates that also have made the Works Hondas work so well. Maybe Elias stays in GP alongside Simoncelli? Either way, good on Hayden for keeping the bike on two. Can't believe it needs to be trailed brake that much. Wonder if he's talking about front or rear because he and Mika have had the rear discs fried from overuse. And Desmofan... nevermind.

Just wanted to announce it here first, I am gay.

Desmofan, why do you think he'd have any sort of advantage at Indy? He hasn't ridden it anymore then the other regulars. It was never a track on the AMA circuit, hell motorcycles in general haven't raced there in a long time.
Even Laguna doesn't have much of a home track advantage anymore, Laguna has been 5 years now? The regulars all know it pretty well.

its nice to hear some actual rider insight to what is going, rather than the usual 'we need to work together to improve our package' blather.
Its clear that the ragged on edge handling yet still hold an edge style of the Desmo suites Stoner. His early days in the outback racing
the dirttracker bikes in the grass at high speeds was I am sure a perfect training ground for this. Its clear that when everyone else, including
hayden feels out of control and on edge, and Casey feels normal. What Ducati needs #1 is a better chassis and suspension guru -
someone who can tailor the bike to riders besides Stoner.

Is Hayden a better development rider than Melandri? Maybe. Can he ride around problems better? Another maybe.

It's great to see his work ethic paying off, and equally nice to see Ducati not just abandoning Stoners' team mate.

Here's to more good results on the Duc for Hayden's future.