Nicky Hayden earned a fitting reward for season of struggle earning his first podium position as a Ducati MotoGP Team rider. Appropriately the ‘Kentucky Kid’ brought the Ducati Desmosedici across the famous line of bricks in third place in his home race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“It feels great to be on the podium here at Indianapolis and I want to thank all the team, my friends, family and fans for their support because this has been a tough season and I’ve needed every one of them,” said Hayden

Hayden achieved his best result spot far on the Ducati with a battling display, trying to chase down Alex de Angelis for second place after crashes for both Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi at the front. “I was really careful at the start because I watched the 125cc race earlier on and the guy in my grid position made a jump start – it made me think that I really didn’t want to do that today! As a result I didn’t get a great start but I saw Lorenzo charge past a few guys, making a hole in the pack, so I tried to follow him,” said Hayden.

Hayden could not quite bridge the gap to the Honda Gresini rider before turning his attention to consolidating third place with dogged defence under pressure from Andrea Dovizioso over the final two laps.

“I pushed hard and in the middle of the race I went as fast as I have all weekend, but I didn’t have any more than that. Dovizioso came on strong at the end so I gave myself a little pep talk and made sure I was ready for whatever he had,” said Hayden.

“He was going to have to come up with something special to keep me off the podium here at Indy! Thankfully I kept it together and brought it home. We don’t have long to the next race at Misano but I’m in the mood for a little party tonight. My buddies have seen the sun come up every day since Friday but hopefully they’ve got something left in the tank for me!”

After the race Filippo Preziosi – Ducati Corse General Director – said “I want to congratulate Nicky because even in difficult times he has always believed in Ducati and he has never given up, working hard and staying focused.”

Podium Indianapolis GP 2009
1st Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha),
2nd Alex De Angelis (Honda),
3rd Nicky Hayden (Ducati)

Fastest lap: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 1’40.152 – 151.545 Km/h

Circuit Record: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 1’40.152 – 151.545 Km/h

Best Pole: Dani Pedrosa (Honda – 2009), 1’39.730 – 152.186 Km/h

Riders World Championship
1st Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 212 points;
2nd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 187;
3rd Casey Stoner (Ducati) 150;
4th Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 141;
5th Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 123;
12th Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 73;
15th Mika Kallio (Ducati) 42.

Constructors World Championship
1st Yamaha (280 points);
2nd Honda (204);
3rd Ducati (182);
4th Suzuki (109);
5th Kawasaki (79)