Hayden thrilled with season best qualifying

Hayden had been looking for a third consecutive win at his home race last month, only to tangle with John Hopkins at the first corner.

He admitted that the incident had shaken him, and that he had been determined to bounce back strongly in the Czech Republic.

"Laguna was tough, after that race I really had to check things," said Hayden. "It was really unfortunate how that all went down.

"I came back fresh, looking for a new start, and this afternoon the team did some really good work and made some really good changes. The bike was a lot better straightaway.

"We didn't put as much endurance on the tyres as we would've liked, but the bike's working a little bit better and it's the best I've qualified all year."

The American said he was not disappointed to be beaten to pole by dominant championship leader Casey Stoner, but hoped that he could take the fight to the Ducati rider in the race.

"Casey's on fire right now so I knew he was going to put one down, but nonetheless I'm happy to be on the front row," Hayden said.

"I need a good start, then to get a good result for everybody over at Repsol and the team.

"I know the boys are due for some good results, so hopefully we can have a bit of fun tomorrow."