Assen MotoGP: Nicky Hayden shrugs off new Ducati delay

Nicky Hayden did his best in Assen today to hide any frustration he may have at not getting hold of Ducati’s new MotoGP machine until the end of next month.

Factory Ducati team-mate Valentino Rossi will debut a completely new machine in Holland tomorrow, with the Bologna factory pulling out all the stops to try and slash Honda’s current advantage in MotoGP.

Rossi’s bike features a new engine and completely revamped rear end, though Hayden has been told he won’t get the GP11.1 until his home race in Laguna Seca at the end of July.

The rear of Rossi’s bike includes a new inverted swingarm and chassis and has been extensively tested on Ducati’s new 2012 1000cc GP12 machine.

Ducati only made the decision to roll out the new bike for Rossi last Thursday after he tested the GP12 again in Mugello.

The GP11.1 also features a new seamless shift gearbox to match the system used by Honda on its factory RC212V machine this season.

Hayden has got to wait another three races before he can try the GP11.1, though he has received an updated carbon fibre chassis for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.

He did his best to hide any disappointment though today and said: “It wasn’t an option just yet for me. I’ve got to wait a little bit longer but I’m happy to be at least be getting it soon. Obviously it is more difficult for me because I’ve already used one extra engine. It is just the way it is sometimes and hopefully it will be worth the wait when I do get it.”