Hayden plays down Toseland incident

The former champion felt that Toseland had cost him third on the grid by blocking his final flying lap, and was unmoved by the British rider's attempts to apologise.

But Hayden later admitted that he had been 'acting like a baby', and said he had now put the incident behind him.

"My ideal time had me third and I had a pretty good lap going and I had to follow Toseland through Turn 5, which is the fastest corner, and then down into Turn 6. I had to pass him and I think he must've been on a race tyre," Hayden told the official MotoGP website.

"I was mad at the time and acting like a baby. He came to my pit afterwards and was sorry, and I was just being a baby because at that point I didn't want to hear 'sorry', especially from him.

"I kind of acted like a punk, but it happens when everybody's going for it. But no drama, we've just got to make it work tomorrow."

Hayden ultimately ended up fourth on the grid, behind the factory Yamahas and his teammate Dani Pedrosa.

"It was okay, we were in the mix, but I certainly wanted to be on the front row," Hayden said. "Hopefully I can get a good start - fourth isn't the worst spot so I hopefully I can get in that hole and come out with those guys up front."

But like Pedrosa, Hayden believes Honda have work to do in the warm-up if they are to fight for victory in the race.

"We're going to have to pick up the pace a little bit and get the bike to change direction a little bit better, but it isn't going to be easy," he said. "I'm going to have to dig in and bring all I've got."