While Repsol Honda team-mate
Dani Pedrosa led from start to finish, Hayden - just a tenth off the front row in qualifying - also got a storming start, rising to third place by lap 2 of 27.
"It was fun to be competitive, to come into that stadium section the first lap with 130,000 people coming alive, bombs going off, it was cool, it was nice to be there in the mix," said the American afterwards.
Hayden was then passed by
Valentino Rossi, but was able to stick with the Italian and his Fiat Yamaha team-mate
Jorge Lorenzo for most of the race, and looked in with a chance of challenging Lorenzo for the final podium position, until he lost the front of his RC212V at turn one.
"After I dropped back a bit I made a run on them, I was trying to give those guys a fight," said Nicky. "Then I stayed on the brake a bit too long into turn one and pretty much crashed.
"It was elbow down and I thought it was done, but the front tyre was good, so I picked it up on the knee and saved it. You can ride these bikes so hard now and the front tyres are so good, that's the first time I've done that," he revealed.
"Obviously we'd like to have been having some bubbly afterwards, but the bike worked the best it's worked all weekend and I was pushing hard.
"All in all it's been a good day for Repsol Honda, so thanks to my team and for the support from all the guys. We came in here a lot more competitive, hopefully we can keep rolling from here and keep moving up," concluded the 2006
MotoGP world champion.
"It's great to see Nicky back up there and enjoying a strong race," stated team manager Kazuhiko Yamano.
