Hayden sure of better showing in Jerez

Hayden finished a low-key eighth in the first round, while his third-placed teammate Dani Pedrosa could not match Ducati and Yamaha's pace.

The world champion believes that other teams have coped better than Honda with the switch from 990cc to 800cc bikes this year.

"It's no secret that at Honda we've got some work to do," he said in an interview with the official MotoGP website.

"The switch to 800s hasn't been perfect for us. Our rivals have been strong, but I know Honda's working hard and they're not going to take being beaten laying down.

"They're definitely going to want to throw a few punches. It's shaping up to be a really exciting season."

Pedrosa and Hayden were second and fourth fastest in the qualifying simulation held at Jerez in February, a result that gives the American confidence about Honda's prospects of overcoming Qatar winners Ducati and their straightline speed advantage in Spain.

"I can't worry about Ducati power too much," Hayden said. "Honda went pretty well (at Jerez), Dani was really fast and I was fourth in that BMW shoot-out.

"Our bike should be good there, the Michelins were working good when we tested there.

"Things didn't go as planned in round one, but you've got to stay positive and be ready to fight back.

"It's only been one round, there's a lot of racing left to go this season. We'll try to get things rolling a little bit better at Jerez."