Hayden rules out diet

Nicky Hayden says he won’t go on a crash diet to help him adjust to Honda’s small new RC212V 800cc MotoGP mchine.

Before Christmas Hayden had hinted he might need to shed weight to help him make the transition from the RCV 990cc five-cylinder that carried him to a stunning last round world title success over Valentino Rossi in Valencia.

But he said: “It’s not so much about losing weight but I don’t think you need as much muscle. The 800, you can’t really muscle it around, you got to finesse it a bit. I don’t think you’ll need to spend as much time in the gym.