went on to finish 12th in the rain-delayed race, just behind his former teammate Dani Pedrosa. This was also Hayden's 100th grand prix. Despite the setbacks, Hayden seemed optimistic about the results saying "I'm leaving here in a really positive mood and looking forward to Motegi. At the second race in Japan, Hayden had never ridden the Ducati in the rain and qualified 12th. Then, on the opening lap of the race, Hayden was taken out by rookie Yuki Takahashi who plowed through Hayden from the rear under braking for the hairpin. As a result, Hayden retired from the race and slipped further down the standings. After Motegi, Hayden would continuously underperform compared to teammate Casey Stoner. He would finish 15th in Spain, 12th in France and Italy but would slowly work his way up as the season progressed when he finished 10th in Catalunya, eighth in Netherlands and fifth at his home race in the United States, his best result of the season yet. He finished in eighth place at the German, 15th and a lap down after a poor tire choice at the British and sixth at the Czech rounds. By round 11 however, Stoner already had won two GPs and finished on the podium a further three times. His breakthrough on the Ducati would come at the Indianapolis round. After qualifying sixth on Saturday, he would move up to fifth and then fourth when Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi crashed out of the race. He then overtook fellow countryman Colin Edwards for third but had to hold off Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso in the closing stages of the race. He did so and would go on to finish half-a-second clear of Dovizioso, becoming the first Ducati rider other than Stoner to finish on the podium since Loris Capirossi did so at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix. After his first podium of the season, Hayden would register his second retirement when he got tangled up in an incident caused by Alex de Angelis and Colin Edwards. When de Angelis tried to gain positions during the short right-left turns one and two, he hit Edwards who then clipped the back of Hayden, making them all retire from the race on the opening lap of the San Marino GP. After Misano, Hayden finished eighth in Portugal, 15th in Australia after he crashed once more with Jorge Lorenzo on the