Casey Stoner has confirmed that he will be using new front forks at Indianapolis this weekend, after the last test session at Brno produced positive results. Stoner wants to find two tenths more in speed and he feels that the front forks, combined with some new rear-end settings could be the key to unlocking it.

Nicky Hayden has stated that he is feeling much better after chipping his wrist and is positive that he will be fit enough to challenge for strong results at his home GP. He’s certainly been working hard enough promoting the Indianapolis MotoGP over the last week, so he’ll be wanting to back it up in front of his home fans.

Both Ducati riders give their thoughts below:

NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Team
“I really can not wait to get to Indy for the race. It’s such a famous track with so much history and being so close to my home I got a big crew making the trip to support me and my brother. The event has really grown a lot in just a few years with the Indy mile dirt track, enduro cross, the stunt shows and all the downtown events, which really gives the fans a chance to make the trip worthwhile. My broken wrist is better than last week in Brno, which I am very happy about, so we’ll see on Friday just how much better. The weather looks good so I hope to come out strong from the gun on Friday and have a weekend worth remembering. Let’s get it!”

CASEY STONER, Ducati Team
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Indy because it’s a circuit where we were in good shape in 2008 despite the crazy weather. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to race last year but hopefully this time around we can make the most of the work we did in the Brno test, even though we didn’t have much time. We’ll start out on Friday with the new front fork because our first impressions of it were good although we still have to decide whether we’ll use it for the race. We’ll also try some settings on the rear that we managed to get a few laps on at Brno but that also need checking out.”

VITTORIANO GUARESCHI, Team Manager
“We go to Indy with some things to try that we hope can give Casey those two tenths he’s missing. Over the past few months he’s been happy with the engine and the handling of the GP10 but never really able to get a good feeling for the front. The new fork we tried in the Czech Republic seems to have given him a little confidence so we’ll fit it to one of his two bikes on Friday afternoon. If his feeling is as good as it was at Brno we’ll use it in the race. Also Nicky, of course, can use it if he wants to. This is one of the most important races of the year for him and definitely the one he looks forward to the most. He finished third last year and considering the big steps forward he has made this season, coming close to the podium on several occasions, we hope he can be celebrating a similar result.”

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