2006 World Champion, Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden facing a tough 2011 MotoGP season
Ducati Team’s Kentucky Kid, Nicky Hayden has been with Italian team since the 2009 MotoGP season after moving out from the factory Honda team.
Since his debut season with Ducati he has been struggling to mark a stunning performance in premier class. Hayden is seen fighting hard to achieve good results in the present season.
Starting the 2011 MotoGP season from Valencia test where he was joined by his new teammate Valentino Rossi, the Kentucky rider was not able to perform well on both days of the session. Hayden came ninth on the first day and with little improvement he was
sixth in the final time sheet for the session.
Entering the MotoGP pre-season test sessions the riders headed to Sepang, Malaysia. During the first preseason test Hayden showed a gradual improvement in pace. On the first day he was 13th on the time sheet, while on the second
day he was 11th. On the final day he scored eighth rank on the time sheet and stood in better position than his teammate Rossi throughout the test session.
The second test session was also held at SIC. During the second preseason test session Hayden lacked the pace and stood out of top ten slots for the whole event. However his teammate Rossi showed some improvements.
Coming close to the season inaugural round at Qatar the third and final preseason test was held at Losail circuit, Qatar. During the test run at Losail, Hayden sustained his performance and scored ninth position on both days.
In the season opener event at Qatar, Hayden faced a hard time and qualified 13th on the grid, while on the race day he scored ninth position two places behind Rossi.
Heading towards Jerez, Spain, the American rider was working hard for good results. Hayden managed to qualify in the 11th position on the grid, but after two riders crashed out from the top squad he was able to score a third position
on the podium. It was his first for the 2011 season.
Heading towards the third MotoGP event at Estoril, Portugal, Hayden secured 13th position on the grid after a rough weekend. He merely finished ninth on the race day, four places behind teammate Rossi.
At Le Mans the Kentucky Kid was better in shape to race. While giving steady performance throughout the weekend he qualified tenth on the grid and finished at seventh position.
The fifth MotoGP event took place at Catalunya, where he was seen improving his GP11 for the weekend. Hayden was able to secure eighth position on the grid and finished in the same position across the finish line.
At the British GP, Hayden was blessed by the wet weather at Silverstone. The Kentucky boy was seventh on the gird and finished fourth after three riders from top squad crashed due to rain.
Now the MotoGP action headed to Assen, Netherlands. There Hayden was ninth to start the race on GP11 while Rossi opted to ride GP11.1. In that race Hayden was fifth just behind Rossi.
Coming to Mugello, Hayden again suffered from poor race settings and finished the Italian GP in tenth place from ninth on grid.
At Sachsenring he replicated his performance delivered at Catalunya. Hayden qualified eighth and finished in same position.
In last round before summer break at Laguna Seca, Hayden was opting between GP11 and GP11.1. Finally riding with GP11 he finished the race in seventh position form ninth on grid. The same performance mark was seen at Brno, Czech Republic with seventh position
across the line.
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