Hayden relieved to reach second row

The track was wet early on after heavy morning rain, but with the circuit steadily drying, the final minutes saw a scramble for quick times on dry tyres - from which Hayden emerged with a second row spot.

"It was quite a wild day," said Hayden.

"This afternoon was pretty 'gnarly'. We started on full wets and the track kept drying and drying. We ended up fourth which isn't a disaster.

"At one stage near the end I was 15th, thankfully we didn't get any big showers then, so I was able to get in a good lap, but I really wanted to be on the front row.

"I was fastest in T1 and T2 on my last qualifier. But lately I can only get one run out of my qualifying fronts and we didn't have enough time to change the tyre, because with the big discs we use here it take a while to change. So I did two runs on it and mid-way round my last lap she was done and I lost some time.

"I'm a little bit bummed, I haven't had a pole all year and every year for the last few years I've had at least one."

The American also praised the Michelin tyres' performance in the French company's penultimate MotoGP event before the series switches to a single supplier.

"The rear Michelin qualifier was amazing, it was ridiculous how much grip it had, even across the wet patches," said Hayden.

"If we can make a little step in the morning, get the bike turning a little better, I feel like I can be competitive. It's going to be a long, hard race if I'm going to hang in there."