Assen MotoGP: Nicky Hayden fears Casey Stoner walkover

Former world champion Nicky Hayden believes Casey Stoner might be untouchable this weekend after the Australian’s dominant start to the Dutch GP in Assen today.

Hayden was fourth quickest at the end of the opening two free practice sessions but he was 0.925s slower than the factory Ducati rider.

Hayden and Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards were the only three riders to lap within a second of Stoner today, and the American said: “It is frightening. He’s really putting those laps down and he looks a little bit scary right now.”

Hayden, who has been strongly linked with a switch to Ducati’s factory team in 2009, had a relatively trouble-free day on Honda’s new pneumatic valve motor.

He did suffer one brief stoppage in the pitlane but said he was happier with the performance.

“The track is in great condition, they did a great job of having it clean, so we were able to get up to speed a lot faster than last year. All in all it’s been a pretty solid day. We made a little bit of an improvement this afternoon.

“I wasn’t able to improve my best time by much but I was able to be a lot more consistent out there. I was hoping to go a little quicker at the end, which didn’t happen. The bike’s working pretty well here but we’re certainly going to have to step it up a bit to get in there and be really competitive.

“We’ve got a few ideas to try and make it a little bit better tomorrow, the rider too, “said Hayden, who won the 2006 Dutch GP. It remains his only premier class victory outside of America.