Hayden hoping to turn things around

The former world champion lies seventh in the standings, 60 points adrift of championship leader Valentino Rossi and 57 shy of his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa.

"It has been a tough year but it's still early," said the American. "Sure, we'd like to be strong right now, but at Jerez and Estoril we had good speed but not enough to be dangerous, and we tested at Le Mans and didn't really find anything there.

"For this weekend we have a few different options with set-up. It's never easy because this grid is really competitive, but we'll keep trying stuff and we'll never give up, so hopefully we'll come across something good and get some momentum.

"I know I can do it and I know the team is capable of it because we've done it before. We just need to put it together and make it happen."

Hayden is looking forward to getting to use the new Honda engine, which he hopes he will have in time for the follow up to this weekend's Mugello race at Barcelona on June 8.

"Hopefully it's good and hopefully I'll be using it at Barcelona. I preferred this chassis with that engine, it works a lot better for me with the weight balance and change of direction."