Marlboro Ducati's Nicky Hayden has said his season-best fifth place at the Laguna Seca MotoGP felt as good as the two victories he has taken at the Californian track.

Hayden fought his way through the pack to finish two places behind team-mate Casey Stoner and is pleased the hard work his team has put in is beginning to take off.

“I have won here twice and to say that fifth place feels just as good might sound strange but man, so much hard work has gone into getting us to this point and I want to savour this feeling," said the American.

"To be racing at home, to score a solid result and to have had fun out there is nice. I just want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to my whole team, to Ducati and to everybody who has continued to believe in me during some difficult times this season.

"We have made progress over the last two races, we have kept the faith and it has paid off with this fifth place. Hopefully we can keep it going and score even better results as the season progresses.”