“It certainly hasn’t been an easy weekend,” said Hayden. “And we came from Assen, where we were quite strong in all conditions. And racing will do that to you pretty quick – put you back in your place.”

Both Hayden and Honda World Superbike teammate Michael van der Mark stood on the podium during the Dutch Round, and both found the weekend at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola to be a very different challenge, both heading through Superpole 1 for the first time.

“We came here and struggled from Friday,” added the Kentucky Kid. “We had a couple of little problems and missed some track time, a combination of maybe not knowing the track and I got behind and didn’t perform too good this weekend, so I can’t be too happy. This is a new circuit for me but I can’t use that as an excuse. I quite like it and there’s some great parts to it.”

The next Round is definitely known territory to the WorldSBK rookie however, as the paddock heads east to Malaysia and Hayden gets to try the Fireblade for the first time at Sepang International Circuit.

“I am looking forward to Sepang, a track I know well and it’s quite a fun track,” explained the American. “Very different to this one. It’s a very long and open track and it’s been resurfaced, and there’s a few changes to some of the cambers…so it will be interesting to try it with these tyres and in different conditions and try to do better, so of course I’m looking forward to it.”

WorldSBK will be at the track outside Kuala Lumpur for Round 6 from the 13th to 15th of May, as Hayden prepares to try the Pirelli tyres and the Honda world superbike around the new asphalt of Sepang.