Rumours have been flying around over the last week that Nicky Hayden’s management have been talking to the Yamaha Tech 3 team about a potential ride for 2010. Hayden willl have to fight hard for his place in 2010 with a raft of exciting rookies moving up from the 250cc class like Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista, who will all be competing for factory rides if Hayden is really considering a move away from Ducati after just one season. Anyway, silly season is beginning as the rumour mill begins turning. Whatever the truth, Hayden will be looking for a good result at Assen.

NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Marlboro Team (15th in the championship on 19 points)

“Assen is a special circuit for me – I love it here. The final split is my favourite because you have a run of fast corners that are crucial to a fast lap. The weather can change from one minute to the next so it will be important to make the most of all the track time available to us. I’ve had some of the best races of my career at Assen, like the fight for the win with Colin (Edwards) in 2006, which is my favourite. In 2007 I finished third and the last year I had the heart break to loose the podium in the last corner! We know we have a lot of work to do but myself and the team are hoping that the Catalunya race was the start of a major turnaround that we can continue to build on until the end of the season.”

LIVIO SUPPO, MotoGP Project Director

“The weekend in Barcelona was really important for us. We started to see the fruit of all the hard work being done by Filippo and his guys, as well as Vitto, and it looks like the development route we’re taking with the GP9 promises to make it even more competitive. We need to continue to give our maximum both to Casey, who is fighting in one of the closest championship battles for years, and to Nicky, who has shown that he has the ability to adapt to the characteristics of our bike, which is more difficult for him than it is for other riders because he had spent so many years on the same machine before this. Both Casey and Nicky like Assen so I’m sure they’ll both be giving everything for a top result.”

CASEY STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team (3rd in the championship on 106 points)

“Assen is a strange track for me because before I rode there in MotoGP it was one of my favourite circuits but one where I never managed to get great results in the smaller categories. Then in 2006 I had a decent result and since then, with the Ducati, I’ve always been fast. Considering the fact that the GP9 has already shown that it is competitive on a variety of circuits, I can’t wait to get back to Assen. Ideally we’d like another weekend of consistent good weather so that we can work on the bike and find a bit more rear grip, which is the only thing we’re missing at the moment. The rest of the bike is great – it is turning well and the front is really stable under braking. I wasn’t really fit at the test and I didn’t do a lot of laps but we did what we needed to and now we’ll try and take advantage of that work in the next race.”

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