Ducati impressed with Hayden

Hayden, who was fastest of all on the wet second day of the shortened test at the Spanish track, impressed the team with his bravery and his swift integration with the engineers.

"He certainly is very brave," Preziosi told Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport. "With the telemetry you can see that in certain situations the bike wobbles in a scary way, even more than with [Casey] Stoner, but he doesn't get off the gas.

"I think we've made a good choice."

Speaking of Hayden's relationship with Stoner, Preziosi added: "It looks like from the first moment there's been great accord between the two of them, also helped by the fact that they speak the same language.

"I don't know whether it'll be the best rider pairing we've ever had, but for sure it will be very harmonious."

Preziosi also indicated that Ducati were happy with the first run of an evolution engine used in the carbon-fibre GP9.

"We were a bit afraid," he said. "Here we had an evolution - never gone on track, not even with test rider [Vittoriano] Guareschi - of what Casey tried in Barcelona.

"Even on the installation lap he did to prepare the bike for the riders, Vittoriano told us it was a good step forward. Most of all in smoothness and progression.

"Casey liked it very much too. The power is still the same, because that's practically imposed by the limitation on the amount of fuel. We've worked on the usual things: fluid dynamics and reduction of frictions. We'll see if it's enough."