Hayden 'a little positive' after qualifying

The American will start sixth tomorrow, his best grid position so far this season, but he was disappointed to still be eight-tenths of a second from pole.

"I wouldn't say (I did) well being that far off, but Michelin did a good job on our qualifying tyre and helped me get in front of a lot of guys," he told autosport.com.

"I'm not thrilled, but it's a little bit positive.

"I'm on the right end of the grid, so I want to get another good start like (at Jerez)."

Hayden reverted to 2006 specification front forks this morning in an effort to become more comfortable with the front end of Honda's 800cc bike, but the move did not pay off.

"The forks weren't the answer," he said. "I had them on one bike, but I think I'll stay with what I had (before)."

He still feels that he has made progress with the front of the bike, but is now concerned about straightline performance.

"It was definitely a little bit better on the front, but we also changed the transmission ratio to try and get some better top speed, because right now we're losing a lot on top speed," said Hayden.

"Here some of the corners are uphill, out of Turn 12 and out of Turn 14, and it sucks the power out of it."