THE AMERICANS: U.S. riders Nicky Hayden (Owensboro, Ky., Ducati Team) and Colin Edwards (Houston, Yamaha Tech 3) will compete in this race. Edwards is fourth and Hayden 12th in the MotoGP standings after one race this season.
•Nicky Hayden: “My first GP with Ducati didn’t exactly go as I’d hoped, but we took some positives out of it. I lapped quicker in the second half of the race than I had done all weekend, and above all, I felt comfortable on the bike. Hopefully this will help us work out what it is exactly that I need to improve my feeling with the bike because being so far off the pace in practice wasn’t cool! Physically I’m OK. No doubt, the race was tough because I was pretty beaten up, but I’ve recovered well and I don’t expect to have any problems in Japan. I’ll probably go to the Clinica on Thursday to have the stitches removed, and that will be the end of the matter… Details