Nicky Hayden not shocked by Casey Stoner form

Nicky Hayden reckons he has not been shocked at factory Ducati team-mate Casey Stoner’s stunning return to MotoGP.

Having missed three races and been out of action for close to 10 weeks while he recovered from a mystery fatigue problem, Stoner has returned in scintillating form. He returned from his self-imposed exile in Estoril earlier this month and took second place, easily defeating reigning world champion Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa.

And he showed why when fully fit he is easily capable of defeating Rossi after he held off a determined race-long attack from the Italian to win for a third successive year on home soil in Phillip Island last weekend.

One man certainly not surprised by Stoner’s blistering return to form is his GP9 team-mate Hayden, who told MCN: “I don’t want to sound like a smart guy and say I told you so, but me and Livio (Suppo) joked that we though he would be fastest in Phillip Island at Estoril.

“That’s just his style and his strength is going fast. I mean the lay-off didn’t even hurt him. It’s been impressive but I’m not shocked. He hurt a lot of people’s feelings, mine included by taking three months of and coming back so strong. But you’ve got to give him credit because that’s impressive.”