Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden finishes seventh at 2011 US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca – MotoGP news
Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden finished seventh in the 2011 US Grand Prix held at Laguna Seca, California.
Hayden was the second fastest American behind Yamaha’s Ben Spies in the season’s first home event.
Hayden has won a race at Laguna Seca in 2006, the same season that he won the world championship title. Considering the present MotoGP season, he was lacking the pace to challenge the top fast riders in premier class.
Hayden said, “I’ve won this race before, so I’m not going to jump up and down celebrating seventh place. We knew it was going to be tough, and crashing in qualifying didn’t help. I got a decent start, but I didn’t get to go with that second group like I
had hoped.”
The Ducati rider crashed during in the final moments of the Qualifying Practice round, which earned him a ninth place on the grid. Along with Hayden, his compatriot Ben Spies also faced a crash in the last few minutes of the QP.
Hayden was following his teammate Valentino Rossi from the start. After a few laps, he was extremely close on the tail of Rossi. This also pressurised Rossi and locked him to sustain his position rather than attempt to pass ahead.
Hayden added, “It was kind of like the Sachsenring: a good battle with Valentino, but thirty seconds behind the front. Vale was no faster than me, but he’s a racer: he doesn’t make mistakes and give you anything.”
Hayden further explained his situation in the race that he had similar pace as Rossi did. He also tried to make a pass on Rossi, but the Italian kept his race lines very neat. As a precaution, Hayden slowed a bit to avoid any mistake that could have crashed
both teammates.
He also added that Rossi tried very hard and pushed as much as it was possible. Hayden also saw that Rossi merely missed crashing a couple of times.
The Ducati Team will relax in the short summer break and after that head to Brno, Czech Republic for the eleventh round of the 2011 MotoGP calendar.
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