Marlboro Ducati's Nicky Hayden has said he doesn't understand why he is so far down the top speed charts after today's opening MotoGP fre practice session at Sepang but reckons it's his best Friday performance for a while.

The former World Champion was able to put in lap times which were consistently in the top ten throughout the hour but found himself fourth slowest through the speed trap, five miles an hour slower than his team-mate Casey Stoner.

“I know my position isn’t great but this is still the best Friday I’ve had in a while and we’re only just over a second off the front, which isn’t that much around this circuit, so I’m pleased," said the Kentuckian.

"We made a change to the electronics today, which has improved my feeling for the bike, and I was able to lap consistently inside the top ten throughout the session, whereas usually I’m much further off in the first session. Obviously there are a lot of areas we need to improve, like every Friday, but in particular we need to look at why I am fourth from bottom on the top speed charts.

"That’s strange because we know we have a strong bike so we’ll try and fix that tonight because I’d certainly rather be fourth from the top! In general it’s a good start and I’m eager to see how much we can improve with ninety minutes on track tomorrow.”
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