Nicky Hayden looking for rear brake solution

Nicky Hayden is waiting for new footrest brackets to stop him inadvertently dragging the rear brake on Ducati’s stunning new carbon fibre GP9 machine.

The Kentucky rider should have the new footrest parts for the final winter test of 2009 in Jerez on March 28/29 with data showing his left foot is dragging on the rear brake.

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“Sometimes mid-corner my foot is touching the rear brake and I’m not even meaning to do it. I need a different footpeg bracket to eliminate that because it is certainly a problem, “Hayden told MCN.

The new problem is not the first time Hayden has been troubled by rear brake issues.

Hayden’s dirt track background meant he spent a lot of time using the rear brake when he first arrived in MotoGP, and he used it so much that his Repsol Honda team used to fit a big rubber band on it to stop him putting so much pressure on the rear brake.

Pramac Ducati rider Niccolo Canepa has also found the move to the GP9 a tricky experience.

His feet are so big that he has been forced to ditch the conventional right foot operated rear brake. The Italian rookie now uses a thumb operated rear brake mounted under the left handlebar.

The system was pioneered by Australian legend Mick Doohan when he returned after the horrific leg injuries he suffered in a crash at Assen in 1992.

Doohan needed the thumb system with movement in his ankle so severely restricted by the Assen crash, and he went onto win five 500cc world championships to achieve iconic status in MotoGP.