Nicky Hayden: Turning the page

Nicky Hayden may be staying with the Drive M7 Aspar team - but he'll have a new bike, new engineers, new team-mate and, he hopes, a 'new' wrist for 2015.

The American's return to Honda after five years at Ducati was hampered by both the underpowered RCV1000R and then a debilitating wrist injury, which flared up overnight at Jerez (round four) and dogged Hayden for the remainder of the year.

Initial surgery after Mugello failed to resolve the pain and lack of mobility, prompting a second much more major operation that saw Hayden side-lined for four events.

The 2006 world champion returned for the final five rounds, made his debut on the new RC213V-RS in the post-season Valencia test, then returned to American to continue his rehabilitation.

I feel better every day. It wasn't easy to get back on the bike after the type of surgery I went through, Hayden said. It was a serious operation, they had to remove three bones from my wrist. I was able to control the pain and ride again, even though I wasn't back to my normal level, but gradually I recovered strength and feeling.

It is good for me that the season is over because it's a chance to continue the recovery. Since the end of the season I have been having injections of platelet-rich plasma. I have let my hand rest but I have also been doing a lot of work with the physio.

Hayden has plenty of motivation to get his wrist back in shape, with the knowledge that next year's Open class Honda will be powered by this year's title winning RC213V (pneumatic-valve) engine.

The bike must still run the standard electronics, and won't have a seamless shift gearbox, but this year's 20km/h top speed deficit should be a thing of the past.

My first impressions were positive, said Hayden, one of only two riders who got to try the bike at the Valencia test. Without doubt the biggest thing I noticed was the extra power, as well as the usual reliability and performance characteristics of a Honda. We were able to confirm the development that has been done with this bike so far and now we have to work on it more ourselves to understand it more and unlock its potential.

I am sure we will be more competitive in 2015 than we were last season. There is still some development to be done with the electronics but I think we are on the right path. We had a great chassis last season but we were down on power.

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Nicky Hayden: Turning the page