After a solid qualifying performance that saw American legend Hayden starting from the second row, a clean start got Hayden up into the top 4 before Aruba.it rider Davide Giugliano crashed in front of Hayden’s Honda. Rolling off to avoid the Italian and then pushing through the final corner saw the 2006 MotoGP World Champion take an unfortunate tumble through the gravel to end his first WorldSBK Race at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli a little earlier than anticipated.

“I absolutely cannot be happy. Qualifying was ok, I was less than a tenth from the front row, but I had a decent start and got through 1, 2 and 3 really clean,” explained Hayden. “I’d just closed down the gap to them a little bit and when Giugliano crashed in front of me I had to wait to open the gas when he was sliding out of the way. A couple of bike lengths opened and I just pushed really hard through the last few corners…”

Trying to make up the gap saw Hayden’s bike unsettled on a bump as the Honda rider found the limit in the final part of the lap.

“The last corner is a bit bumpy and I had a bit of chatter over the bumps – we’re talking one and a half km/h faster and lean angle was about the same…it wasn’t much different to the laps before or even the laps the day before but when you’re riding on the limit, it doesn’t take much. It’s a bummer but this year’s about trying and learning!”

Hayden has already taken a win in his rookie year, at Sepang International Circuit in Race 2, and will be pushing to achieve the same at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in the second contest of the weekend on Sunday at 13:00 (GMT +2).