Hayden eager to get back on track

The reigning world champion finished 11th at the previous race of the season in Spain, but he believes that the Repsol Honda team made a lot of progress in the two-day test after the race.

"I can't wait to get on the track on Friday morning to find out if I made as much progress as I think I did on the Monday and Tuesday test in Spain," said Hayden.

"I really hope it will all carry over and that I haven't just been fooling myself."

The American added that he is back to full fitness after his crash in the French Grand Prix, and he is hoping that he will find this year's 800cc bike easier to ride than the 990cc bike on some parts of the British track.

"I'm fully over my injuries from the Le Mans crash so I feel ready to push really hard," he said.

"The last section at Donington has never come just silky smooth for me. There's a lot of hard braking, then accelerating where you're fighting to keep the front wheel down to the next corner.

"However, with losing 200cc this year, the wheelie problem should be reduced somewhat."

Hayden's teammate Dani Pedrosa dominated the race at Donington last year, and the Spaniard is hoping for a repeat performance to follow up his podium finish on home soil.

"Last year I had a very good time at Donington so I'm really looking forward to going back there," he said. "The target will obviously be for a repeat of last year's win."