Hayden positive about Honda progress

The American has found it hard to adapt to the riding style required by the less powerful 2007 machines. He has yet to finish in the top six this season, and was downcast after slipping back from fourth to seventh during last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

But after trying major changes in the Jerez test, Hayden believes he could be on the way back to competitiveness.

"We did some work with a modified chassis and towards the end of the day we found a direction that improved the feel of the package," he said.

"I'm not going to try to hide the fact that things haven't quite gone to plan in the first two races and we've still got a lot of work to do but we made some progress today."

He hopes he can take another step forward before the next round at Istanbul in mid-April.

"As much as I'd love to go straight to Turkey, I'll use these few weeks off to think about a few things and try to make that step up needed to get back up front," Hayden said.

"Thanks to team and to HRC because all those guys stayed here and worked really hard - we're all in this together."