13th in Italy, eighth again in Catalunya and seventh in Great Britain. The race in Donington Park also marked the race debut of Honda's pneumatic-valve engine, which only Hayden was using initially. At round nine—the Dutch round in Assen—Hayden ran third from the start and was set to finish there until he ran out of fuel at the final corner, due to an electrical system problem which prevented accurate fuel monitoring. Colin Edwards captured Hayden's third-place podium moments before Hayden coasted over the line with no power, to finish in fourth place. At the next two rounds in Germany and his home round at the United States, Hayden finished in 13th and fifth positions. A heel injury sustained in a motocross crash meant that Hayden would not participate in the Czech and San Marino rounds. As the season went on, the relations within the team had already deteriorated, and there was further friction when Pedrosa switched tire suppliers midseason (from the struggling Michelin to the dominant Bridgestone) without Hayden being consulted. Hayden stated "I've never been put in the conditions to choose. Once they told me that I would have just wasted my time had I even only thought about asking for Bridgestone tires...I'm not surprised they've given them to him. Besides, at Misano I didn't even have the same fork Dani had... No way would I think they'd let me try the new tires". This incident lent weight to the rumours that Hayden and Honda would part ways for the next season. The rumour was confirmed on September 12, 2008, when Hayden stated during a Dorna press conference, "It's no secret. Everybody knows where my next stop is going to be...But officially we're waiting to do it the right way, until the releases come out, because there's teams and stuff". Despite all the friction and negativity in the media between Hayden and the Repsol Honda team, he would go on to finish the season on a more positive note than last year. In his return race at the inaugural Indianapolis race, he would go on to finish second—his first podium of the season. Hayden started fourth but moved his way up the order, overtaking Valentino Rossi—who had fallen back from pole to fourth position at the start —, his future Ducati teammate Casey Stoner and rookie Andrea Dovizioso on the second lap to take over the lead. After Rossi