Nicky Hayden is happy with the yet-to-be-revealed changes to the setup of next year's Ducati Desmosedici GP12 after doing 83 laps at Mugello today and he also likes the new tarmac as well.

The American shared track time with Franco Battaini, who is working on this year's bike, but only got positive work done when the sun appeared after lunch to dry out a wet circuit.

“It was a positive day even if the track conditions this morning weren’t great because of the rain last night. That caused us to get started a bit late, but we worked on the setup and some new changes that have been made to the GP12. I only started having better feeling after the lunch break, when the sun made the track conditions better," said Hayden.

"The new asphalt is definitely a big improvement, especially in some spots, like the two Arrabbiate corners, which are really fun now. I’m satisfied with the steps forward that have been made with the bike since the first time I tried it, at Jerez. Thanks to Filippo (Preziosi) for giving me the opportunity to ride it again.”