Hayden encouraged after opening day

Hayden, who struggled in the first Grand Prix of the season at Qatar two weeks ago, was fourth fastest in the first practice session this morning and 13th fastest in the second session this afternoon.

But despite the decline, the American said he was happy with his Repsol Honda bike and was optimistic of improving his position further in the remainder of the weekend.

"This morning, it was definitely encouraging to be up front at the sharp end and it was fun to be riding back here at Jerez," Hayden said.

"This afternoon, we didn't exactly go backwards but we didn't go forward as much as I'd have liked - and everybody else went quite a lot faster.

"But we're definitely a lot closer than we were at the first race in Qatar, and I've got a much better feeling on the bike than I did at the first race.

"Also, the bike seems to be running quite a lot smoother here in the cooler conditions. I just need to try to bust on through that mid 1:41 bracket and get in amongst the front guys.

"We're working on a few things tonight so that I can move up tomorrow and try to get on the front two rows at least."

Hayden's teammate Dani Pedrosa had a better finish to the day, setting the second fastest time in practice 2.