Hayden: You better get the snorkel.

Relentless rain dominated proceedings at Indianapolis on Friday, when America's most recent MotoGP world champion, Nicky Hayden, finished eighth and 14th in the two track sessions.

The rain is perhaps something of a blessing in disguise for the Kentucky Kid, who is riding with a foot injury. The low-grip conditions reduce the amount of physical input riders need to put into the bike through the handlebars and footrests.

Hayden, now the only Michelin-shod Repsol Honda rider, is still getting around on crutches to protect the still-healing right heel he broke during a Supermotard ride on August 1.

"It's not really helping me by any means, but it's certainly better in the rain than riding in the dry," said Nicky. "It's not a big, big problem. It's not helping me, but that's not why I was eighth and 14th or something."

The rain got heavier this afternoon and during the final ten minutes the downpour increased to the extent that deep puddles were forming around the track, causing aquaplaning.

"This morning I felt decent, but I don't feel really comfortable where there's the big standing water. It's just aquaplaning on me," said Nicky. "I don't know if the bike is actually too soft or what, so maybe tomorrow definitely I'll try some different tyres.

"Where the track's dry on the old part, I feel OK; I feel comfortable. But the other places, I mean, I'm just not comfortable. I feel stiff and feel really slow. In Turn 1 and Turn 2, I'm embarrassingly slow. It would be nice to catch a little break here and dry out a little bit today. The weather was, I mean, the same for everybody, but man, that was some serious rain.

"Today over in Turn 4, your knee was throwing water up in your lap. I mean, I've felt that before, but that's kind of when you know. When the rain gets deep, when your knee goes through it and starts putting water in your lap, you better get the snorkel out.

"They say the weather's not looking real good for the rest of the weekend - the fans are already suffering, so that's not cool for them," he added.

Hayden's team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who has switched to Bridgestone tyres, was 19th and ninth.