Q: Dovi as your teammate. Quite a bit difference personality from Valentino. You obviously had a test at Sepang, and I think you have had a couple of independent tests.

HAYDEN: Yes, at the moment everything has went really smooth. I have had no issues. I didn't have any issues with Valentino at all. We have kept in touch and being teammates, and I definitely enjoyed being teammates with him. There were some benefits to it, and there were some negatives. With Dovi so far as a rider, I have a lot of respect for him. He is a great racer, which I respect, and it seems like a lot of our comments and issues are a lot of the same. Which is also really good, I mean for engineers do have one line to follow is also really good. Instead of having completely different comments and we were just in Germany for a couple of days doing a PR event and got a change to probably I would say I got to know him a bit more. And he doesn't come with a lot of baggage. With him pretty much what you see is what you get and not a lot of typically teammate things. At the moment pretty just normal guy who pretty much just loves riding his bike and we have a few common interests now, you know, it is Supercross season. And we both talking about that, and he stays up watching the races in Europe and at the moment there have been no issues.

Q: As an offshoot to Jim's questions, in the last two years with Valentino as a teammate every single aspect of the bike was under a microscope, a media microscope because of Valentino on the team and because his well-publicized move to Ducati. Is it a little bit easier this year to develop the bike? Are you working a little bit under the radar because you don't have the most popular guy in the sport on the team?

HAYDEN: Well, I really feel like we need to move on past the two years with Valentino and we didn't get the results that we wanted. Some of it there was a lot of pressure on the teams and the engineers and at times maybe we tried too hard and tried to make progress too quick. Probably maybe even took a few steps backward without even making any real progress. But then again, it had a lot of benefits. When he talked, people listened, and he did get stuff done in a hurry. So I would say it went both ways with us.

Q: We have the 12 factory bikes out there. Each factory with two factory bikes and satellite bikes and then we have the gap to the CRT's. Nicky, what is your opinion of what the CRT's have been able to do and the whole initiative to use the CRT's in the first place?

HAYDEN: Personally, in an ideal world it would be 24 prototype bikes. That's as a race fan what we would like to see. But I think the CRT had definitely had some good things to it. It has gotten more bikes on the grid and gotten some more faces out there. Of course, they are teams with smaller teams with smaller budgets. I am not a huge fan of the podium deal, but it looks like in the future it is building up some teams and giving some more people jobs. And unfortunately we are in a recession and we are in an economic crisis and it is expensive to go racing. It has in that area worked out the plan, so hopefully it keeps going. But ideally I would rather see 24 prototype bikes on the grid and everyone a little bit closer. I mean it looks like things might be a little bit closer this year they have some softer tires than the prototypes and a few things that should help them brings the bikes closer.

Q: Well, I would be in a lot of trouble in Spain if I didn't ask this question. Everybody wants to know what your take on Marc Marquez and his first performance as a factory rider?

HAYDEN: Well, it is impressive You don't need me to tell you that. I don't think anybody doubted that he was going to be fast, I mean the 125, Moto2, whatever. When you are fast, you are fast. I would say to be quite this quick and even so consistently quick this early it wasn't expected and for some of us riders we aren't so pumped on it. Honestly, I think we wanted to give him a little more time, and he is going to be exciting for the sport. He rides very hard and he is very hungry. You know, if he can stay healthy, he is really going to shake things up this season. So he is been very, very impressive and very fast, which is a bit of his own style. And he could be a game-changer to MotoGP and all of road racing.

Q: We have three rounds this year of MotoGP in the United States. We have Austin next month and Laguna Seca and July and of course the Red Bull Indiananpolis GP on August 16-18 here in Indianapolis. There is only one country in the series that has more rounds than the States. What does that say about America's place in MotoGP to now have three races here in the States?

HAYDEN: I love it. I truly appreciate it. When I first went to MotoGP in 2003, there were no races in America. The closest race was in Brazil. So I appreciate it and I think the good thing for us is that it is three different races and three very different places. So I think that is really good for the fans. You know, it is not the same, you know, Laguna has its own character and charm and it's the only race without Moto2 and Moto3. And it is the only change for the AMA guys to ride with us. Austin is new, and of course Indy for me is my home race. It is at the Brickyard, and it's right there in the Midwest and it has so much population around it. So it is great, and I hope the American fans can come out and support it. I hope all three races are a huge success. We can see America is a very important market. When I won the World Championship, it was hard to really be a real American championship without a round in America. But now, we have three and we need to do our part and appreciate it and support it. Hopefully they can feed off each other and make them all better.

Q: How much integration is there this year with the Pramac team with Ben (Spies) and Andrea (Iannone)? Is it more than years past or is it truly a four-bike effort or did you work with that team at the Sepang test?

HAYDEN: Well, I would say even in years past Ducati has been pretty close with the satellite team and the engineers are the same. This year all four bikes are full factory bikes and full factory efforts. We need that. So, to make the progress the more data and feedback the more different styles it is going to be important and useful for the engineers it is going to be important. I mean it is important to group that data all together and with less testing we have now more riders that we have now hopefully with more riders. I know me and Dovi do and I know Ben had a few different comments. Andrea is also very unique for them as he really knows nothing about MotoGP. Everything he says should be really raw and unique, and I think Dovi and Ben have really great experience coming from Yamaha. And even before that, Dovi did a couple of seasons at Honda. Then me I had reference at Ducati, and my data can be carried over from years past. And they have a great group and a good lineup of some different riders and coming in with some different background. So we can cover all areas. We know that we have a lot of work to do, but everybody is up to the challenge. I certainly believe in Ducati and our sponsors, and I know it isn't going to be easy at the beginning of the season. Especially with the gap to the front is too big, and time right now isn't on our side, which is unfortunate. But there is a lot of good stuff in the pipeline, and I hope we can make progress quick and have a successful season.

Q: Nicky to you without throwing him under the bus, what do you feel is the current failing of the 2013 bike? I am going to assume it is the front-end feel?

HAYDEN: That is something that we have been fighting for a couple of years now so we need to solve that before we can look at the other stuff. I mean we have a couple of different little issues. The front-end feel, front end turning it is more or less I would say goes under the same category, and I would say goes under the same issues.

Q: So you guys got handed new Bridgestones in Sepang and probably were given a plethora to choose from. Did you find anything new there or is it still the same working through the issues?

HAYDEN: The Bridgestone tire at the moment hasn't really changed a lot for next year. There is some stuff in the harder solution, but it wasn't really the right compound for Malaysia and those conditions. But we hope this year we will be able to use the harder compound more. But last year there were very few occasions at tracks where we used the harder compound and this year hopefully they have worked to make it a little bit closer. To make it where they will work a little bit better. Bridgestone we know makes great tires and for some ways we know that is one thing that we don't have to worry about and spend too much time developing the tires, and we know they will bring us good tires and we have to make the bike work around them.

Q: Nicky, when I first started covering Grand Prix, which was a long time ago, the Italians and the British were the guys to beat. And then came the Americans. The guys you grew up watching, the guys from '78 through Kevin Schwantz and then you and Junior (Kenny Roberts Jr.) each had sporadic titles in there. The Spanish TV stations that I would for would consider a good day if all three riders on all three classes on podium finishes. And that certainly is possible going into this next season. Where did America start to fall behind and what does the United States needs to do to get Americans back on the podium again?

HAYDEN: Well, it is true. Definitely the Spanish on some days, the amount of podiums would take home were incredible. You would probably know better than me where things went off track in the early 80s and the 90s when all the dirt trackers made the transitions to 500. They were really suited to those with the amount of power and their sliding which I think dirt track was the best training for that. Where now the sport has changed a lot and with the electronics and tires, the way the four strokes are ridden. In Spain, I would say the main thing they are doing so good is starting the kids so young. It doesn't matter if you are golfing, riding motorcycles or want to be a cook. It is a young man's game. The younger you start, the better you are. I see it in Italy but mainly in Spain. These academies and schools where they are starting these kids on road racing on real bikes and real competition at a young age. If American wants to catch up, that is what America is going to have to do. The age limit in America is a little different. It makes it a little bit harder, and it is a bit later to get on a bigger bike. We need to follow those next steps and get some kids in a competitive series earlier, like the Rookies Cup in Europe and it has certainly helped start young riders and these academies.