Experienced American star Nicky Hayden admitted he was frustrated not to be able to get a podium result this weekend at the Gaerne Spanish Round, after finishing fourth in both races.

The Kentucky Kid pushed hard again in Race 2 on Sunday and was chasing down KRT pair Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes for a podium finish. The former MotoGP™ World Champion was unlucky not to achieve his aim as he crossed the line under a second behind both the Kawasaki riders.

“I’m a bit frustrated, because the Kawasakis this weekend were not at their best at this track, so I really wanted to try to beat at least one of them today in a straight up fight,” stated Hayden afterwards. “I didn’t expect them to be so much quicker than me in the first few laps. Compared to yesterday they really did some 1’41s today and I couldn’t do 1’41s like yesterday with the extra track temperature and they pulled away.”

He went on to add, “But I stayed calm and started to close the gap and take some tenths out of them. The laps really went by quickly though and it was too little too late. It’s a good result for me, not too bad, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed to do something extra on the last lap or two to give the team a podium, because they did a really good job with the bike.”