It was a satisfying afternoon for Nicky Hayden at the TT Circuit Assen as the former MotoGP World Champion registered his first WorldSBK podium result, coming home third at the end of an enthralling 21-lap Race 1 in the Netherlands.

Hayden got a good start from tenth on the grid and ran in sixth place in the early stages of the race, before crashes in front of him – including that of his teammate Michael van der Mark – saw his patience and rhythm pay off, with the American hunting down the lead group.

After a moment at T5 late in the race, Hayden tucked in to bring his Honda home behind leading pair Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies, gaining his first podium finish since the joining the WorldSBK grid at the start of the season.

“It was a really fun race,” said Hayden. “It was really going into the unknown, we just had a couple of laps in the dry in qualifying. It was pretty intense off the grid but I got a great start and I was able to hang there. The other guys were a bit quicker than me but I thought maybe I was going to have something left at the end. Then Michael (van der Mark) crashed and I thought, you know what I should just take this podium, get these points, put them on the board and learn from it and hopefully put up a better fight tomorrow.

“It’s my maiden WorldSBK podium and the first one in a long time, so I want to thank the team for the great work. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully we can put up a better fight.”