Hayden keen to leave Honda on a high

The American's relationship with Honda declined following his 2006 championship success, with an increasingly fractious atmosphere between Hayden and teammate Dani Pedrosa - which was exacerbated by a recent war of words between Hayden and Pedrosa's manager Alberto Puig.

Hayden, who has been a Honda rider since his AMA days, will leave the team for Ducati after this weekend's Valencia race, and says he is determined to go out on a high despite recent troubles.

"We need a result this weekend," he told reporters in Spain.

"I don't want to sound soft, but it's a little bit emotional. I've been with Honda nine years. And especially this team, these guys, I showed up here from Kentucky at 21 and I really didn't know where to go or what to do. Guys from the hospitality all the way through, they begin to be your family.

"Sure, it's not always been real easy and things have got a little salty here lately, but they made me a world champion. Without that team and without Honda, maybe I would never be a world champion, and for that I'm very grateful. Maybe I haven't been really happy with the way things have gone lately, but they probably ain't happy when I tear up one of their million dollar bikes either.

"But the bottom line is, I'm grateful for the opportunity. I've ridden some trick motorcycles, worked with some great engineers, and that's something I don't take lightly. There's not many people who can say they rode factory Hondas for almost a decade. It's been a good ride, but it's time to move on. It's time to try something new."

Hayden also reiterated his gratitude to the mechanics working on his bike, saying their effort never lessened despite his difficulties this year.

"I got hurt, I'm going next year - it would have been real easy for those guys to start pointing fingers and backing off, but they've certainly picked themselves up off the floor, and all the guys in the team have worked just as hard for me this year as they did every other year," he said.

"So I'm pretty lucky, because I've seen a lot of guys just fold really easily if things go bad, just start worrying about protecting their jobs for next year. I'm proud of my guys."

Given the animosity between himself and Pedrosa, Hayden admitted that he would be delighted to end his Honda career by beating his teammate on the Spaniard's home ground.

"I'm not going to try and tell you all that he's just another rider," he said. "I'd love to try and beat the guy right here, but it's going to be tough. I don't need to tell you how sweet that would be. But sitting here talking about it won't get it."

Hayden will test for Ducati for the first time in the post-race sessions at Valencia on Monday. With only Casey Stoner having found success on the 800cc Ducatis, Hayden said he was both excited and anxious prior to his first run on the Desmosedici.

"Monday's a big day," he said. "I don't know what else there is I haven't said - all that's left is to ride it. No more building expectations in my head. I'm really excited to find out what I'm in for, good or bad."