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 The Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix marked an historic moment in US racing and for US racer Nickey Hayden who has joined DUCATI Corsa for 2009.
American rider Nicky Hayden takes the stars & stripes DUCATI GP9 on the maiden run in Valencia, Italy and says . . . ‘the bike is a bit of an animal.’
`I certainly didn´t have any problem getting out of bed this morning!´ joked Hayden after an exhaustive 79-lap introduction to the Ducati. `I enjoyed it and I can see that the potential is huge. I know it´s going to be a lot of hard work, but I´m not ready to go and hang myself either! I felt pretty comfortable with the bike, the team and everything. It has been a very intense day and full of many things to test and to understand, but it was exactly as I expected it to be.´
The American was using a special `Stars & Stripes´ livery for his first outing on the new bike, but the engine inside was the same typical beast that has proved so difficult to tame for even some of the best riders in the series. Hayden found out firsthand the power needed to manage the machine, upping his respect for 2007 MotoGP World Champion and new teammate Casey Stoner yet further.
 `When I got in the first time I told my brother (Tommy) that I´m not sure what they pay Casey, but it´s not enough! They need to double it because the bike is a bit of an animal!´ continued the `Kentucky Kid´. `I really want it to work. I want it to work so bad that it´s scary, and we´re up for it.´
Hayden´s best lap on Monday was a 1´33.960 with the GP9, although he had performed his opening series of laps with the GP8. In both cases he was getting accustomed to not just a new bike, but to using Bridgestone tires for the first time in his career.
 > Hayden finished second behind World Champion, Valentino Rossi at the historic, 2008 Indianapolis MotoGP and thrid place at the 2009 GP at Indy. Excerpts, MotoGP.com. 10.09
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