Hayden confident of Motegi fitness

The Ducati rider crashed heavily at the end of qualifying at Losail, and although he escaped without any broken bones, he was in significant discomfort.

But he said he had fully recovered since the Qatar event and will not suffer any after-effects at Motegi.

"Physically I'm okay - no doubt the race was tough because I was pretty beaten up but I've recovered well and I don't expect to have any problems in Japan," said Hayden.

"I'll probably go to the Clinica on Thursday to have the stitches removed and that will be the end of the matter."

The American is also confident that he will be more competitive in Japan, having made progress with his adjustment to the Ducati during the Losail race.

"My first GP with Ducati didn't exactly go as I'd hoped but we took some positives out of it," Hayden said.

"I lapped quicker in the second half of the race than I had done all weekend and above all I felt comfortable on the bike.

"Hopefully this will help us work out what it is exactly that I need to improve my feeling with the bike because being so far off the pace in practice wasn't cool."