Sitting in 14th position in the standings following 13 events with Ducati, the final which concluded with a blameless first lap smash at Misano, things have not been going well for Nicky Hayden and the Italian factory squad, but the loyal and hardworking American is confident about his year so far.

His results have proven an upward trend from earlier in the year when he swapped Crew Chiefs and Juan Martinez came back to Ducati to unite with him, Hayden has already confirmed a contract next season with the Bologna-based squad, plus a home stage showing at Indianapolis to account for his efforts this season.

The Kentuckian competitor provided his views on Ducati’s Desmoblog (http://blog.ducati.com) following of the final stage of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship:

“Well it has been almost exactly one year to the day that I signed my first Ducati contract, and wow, what an experience! I always wondered what it would be like to be a Ducati rider and now I know very well. It’s everything I ever hoped it would be and more. This truly is a special brand with many special people. It has not always been the smoothest transition if I am truthful with everybody and the results haven’t been great, but this has allowed me to see both sides of the people and I can say that they have been right on point with their treatment of me, on the good days and the bad days.”

“People always talk about how it’s important to never give up, work hard , stay together and results will come, but I’m not sure they always believe this is the case. If anybody doubts this theory take a look at my season - we started off bad and I was not competitive, but with the right attitude and all the hard work from every single person involved with me and that team, we have proved it’s true. There was one stretch in the season where my results looked like 15th, 12th, 12th, 10th, 8th, 5th. That progression is not just a question of luck. It’s a matter of everybody pulling together and working towards the goal, and this is what we believe.”

“Even though most people would say the highlight of my season would have to be Indy, where I stood on the podium of my home GP after a real dog fight of a race, I would say my proudest moment came when the team boss, Livio Suppo, called to tell me Ducati wanted to bring me back for a second year. No contract negotiation between managers and no games, just that Ducati would pick up the option on my second year, and give me another shot. I really do feel it’s where I belong and I couldn’t be happier. So in closing I would just like thank all the Ducati fans out there for supporting me and the team. I know our potential is high and we wont be completely satisfied until we are up where we belong and I promise we will give everything to make y’all proud!”