Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden delivered an impressive qualifying performance at sun-blessed Jerez today. Nicky Hayden was just a fraction of a second behind his team-mate in fourth. That session backed up similarly strong showings during free practice.

Nicky Hayden ended the day a tantalising 0.107 seconds off the front row. The American is now running both his RC212Vs with the latest chassis and will be working hard in warm-up to find that last bit of pace to allow him to battle up front.

Nicky Hayden, fourth fastest, 1m 39.061s

“We’ve made a bit of progress, but this afternoon a lot of guys went quicker and we didn’t quite have the feeling I was looking for to get the rhythm. I need to be dangerous tomorrow. Definitely need to try to step it up in warm-up; me, the bike, everything’s going to need more speed if we want to be up there. It’s mainly getting the front working better over the bumps, though the bike/tyre combination’s not so bad.

Qualifying, I wasn’t thrilled with my lap, I felt the bike had a bit more potential. I used a different front tyre than I’ve used in the past and maybe in these hot conditions it wasn’t ideal. The Michelin rear qualifier was really good today and definitely had more in it, so big thanks to Michelin.

I’m looking forward to the race. Jerez is always unbelievable experience and I’m sure tomorrow’s going to be no different. Man, I just want to be up there and experience it.”