"I have won here twice, and to say that fifth place feels just as good might sound strange, but man, so much hard work has gone into getting us to this point, and I want to savor this feeling, " smiled Nicky. "To be racing at home, to score a solid result, and to have had fun out there is nice.

"I want to say a huge 'thank you' to my whole team, to Ducati, and to everybody who has continued to believe in me during some difficult times this season," he continued. "It was my best qualifying and best race this year. I'm really happy. I'm making progress."

And Hayden has results to back up that claim. After being punted out of round two in Japan on the opening lap, the American has finished 15th, 12th, 12th, 10th, 8th and now 5th in the races since. Fifth also matches Melandri's best result of last season.

Hayden was given a new crew chief to try and help with communication problems earlier in the year and has been trying new electronics to help cure the rear pumping problem on corner exit.

"The latest stuff we tested were some electronics I hadn't really used before," he said. "We went actually another step, but this week was the biggest improvement with the electronics. Being here at this track helped and the closer I get, and the faster I go, the easier it gets.

"Even the last couple of races, I have made progress, steadily, especially from Barcelona on. I hope we're on our way. By the time we get to Indy [round 12], I hope to get some 'hardware' there. "

A significant change in terms of riding style, compared with the Honda, is the amount of trail braking needed to help turn the Ducati, a characteristic Hayden is still getting used to and which influenced his decision to run the softer front tyre option in the race. The top four riders all ran the harder option, front and rear.

"I was pretty confident in the soft front tyre here," he explained. "I could brake harder. In Turns One, Two, Nine and Ten I was on the edge. I crashed [earlier in the weekend] trail braking into Turn Seven. With this bike you gotta brake a lot, and I have to get used to it. You have to stay on the brakes to keep it turning. I'll have moments on the track when I almost crash, and then I watch it on TV and it's nothing."

Despite the result, Stoner still finished 9.231sec in front Hayden - and it's not simply a case of 'doing what Stoner does' to close the gap.

"My riding style is different from Casey, so I can't do everything Casey does. He's also a lot smaller than he looks," said Nicky.