Brno Test: No fork boost for Nicky Hayden

Nicky Hayden’s hopes that a new Ohlins front fork would help boost his confidence in the front-end of his factory Ducati GP10 failed to materialise in Brno yesterday.

The American opted to participate in the test despite suffering constant pain with a chipped bone in his left wrist after he crashed heavily during qualifying on Saturday.

Hayden, who is close to signing a new deal to stay with Ducati in 2011, set a best time of 1.57.991 to finish ninth quickest.

But he told MCN: “The main reason I tested was to try the new forks. I didn’t want to slow down being healthy for Indy but if I’m going to take any trophies home I’ve got to improve something.

“The forks were good for straight up and down braking but in some other places I really didn’t like them. There was no real improvement for me and I was definitely hoping to find a step there because I’m having a lot of problems and keep crashing on the front.

“I wasn’t really chasing lap times and my condition wasn’t great. I didn’t like the forks in mid-corner. I couldn’t get it hold a line.”