Drive M7 Honda’s Nicky Hayden is hopeful the tight and twisty nature of Jerez could play into the hands of the Production Hondas at this weekend’s MotoGP as the factory bikes will not be able to exploit their power advantage.

Hayden, and Britain’s Scott Redding, have been hampered by a lack of speed and power so far this year, and the American thinks that the handling characteristics of the RCV1000R could help him get amongst the big boys.

“I am really looking forward to going to Jerez this week, it's an interesting track. You could say the season is more back to normal this weekend after a night race in Qatar, a very difficult weekend for us in Texas and a new track in Argentina,” said Hayden.

“Now we go to Europe, the home of the championship, and a circuit we all know well. It's an awesome track with an unbeatable atmosphere and most riders are fast there. I always enjoying racing at Jerez.

“You can't use all of the power of a MotoGP bike in certain sections of the track but that could prove to be an advantage to us compared to the factory bikes. If we do our job right maybe we can get closer and be more competitive. Hopefully the conditions are on our side.”