Nicky Hayden’s race in the opener of the 2010 year has shown encouraging signs that the Ducati Marlboro racer is in good form after ending fourth whilst battling for the third place all the way to the finish line.

The American commented on his joy with the fresh Desmosedici GP10 following the event.

“I just feel a lot more comfortable on it and also with the team. It’s the second year with the team after a long time on Honda bikes,” says Hayden. “It was a big change last year and I certainly didn’t adapt the way I wanted to, but this year things seem to be going a lot better. The communication with the team is a lot better than it was last year and I like the bike.”

Hayden adds, “I would say the engine certainly is smoother, and has a better feel when you open the power and try to accelerate out of the corner. Now I need to go and be fast for a whole weekend from when we show up on Friday, and at a track we haven’t had two days of testing at, like Qatar. That was one of my targets for this off-season; to improve that. I guess we’ll find out at Jerez if that’s the case.”

Hayden’s feels comfortable into his second season with Ducati. He and colleague Casey Stoner work closely, sharing data to help each another.

“Some things that work for him won’t work for me,” states Hayden. “But there are other times where he’ll come across something that works, and it’ll work for me. With the limited amount of track time we have this year and last year, even, you use every bit of information you can get.”

It's also a process that covers across the Ducati squads as well.  Hayden adds, “We share data and anything we want. To their credit, it’s open book around there. Even between Mika Kallio’s (Pramac Racing) crew chief to Héctor Barberá’s (Páginas Amarillas Aspar), they all work out of the same truck. Everybody’s playing for the same team around there, to try to beat the other manufacturers. There are no secrets, nothing like that.”

The new Team Manager in Vittoriano Guareschi is also an added factor.

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After the delay of the Grand Prix of Japan due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, the FIM has taken on board a proposal made by the Grand Prix Permanent Bureau to reshuffle the Grand Prix of Japan for October 3rd, 2010.

The editted 2010 calendar for the MotoGP World Championship is below:

Date – Grand Prix – Circuit
April 11th* – Qatar – Losail
May 2nd – Spain – Jerez
May 23rd – France – Le Mans
June 6th – Italy – Mugello
June 20th – Great Britain – Silverstone
June 26th** – Netherlands – Assen
July 4th – Catalunya – Catalunya
July 18th – Germany – Sachsenring
July 25th*** – United States – Laguna Seca
August 15th – Czech Republic – Brno
August 29th – Indianapolis – Indianapolis
September 5th – San Marino & Riviera di Rimini – Misano
September 19th – Aragon – Motorland Aragon
October 3rd – Japan – Motegi
October 10th – Malaysia – Sepang

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