Hayden is looking forward to getting back up front at Jerez, where last month he topped preseason tests with a stunning 1m 38.848s lap. The American, who rode to a determined tenth-place finish in Qatar, will run 2008 RC212Vs with a revised chassis at the Spanish round. Like his team-mate, Hayden loves the Spanish GP because it's one of the most atmospheric races on the MotoGP calendar, with a noisy and knowledgeable crowd.

“Qatar wasn't a great weekend for us but we'll be working hard to move on from that at Jerez. Our bike should work good at Jerez and in the past the Michelin tyres have worked really good there. I think it's a cool track and it's not a top-speed track. I like tracks where you've got to put sections together, and Jerez all flows together pretty good. The atmosphere is pretty cool – you come into the stadium section [the Nieto and Peluqui turns] on Sunday morning and it's wild”, said Hayden. “Nowadays you can design a racetrack on the computer, you can do whatever you want – make that, generate this, design that – you can use every trick in the book, but if the place don't have that atmosphere, money can't buy that. Even if a racetrack gives tickets away you can't guarantee the atmosphere you get at Jerez – there's explosions going off, it just wild and that's what makes it so good. From a riding point of view you definitely need edge grip for all the long corners and you need a bike that steers good in those long corners. It's a good tracks and one of my favourites. But it's the atmosphere that really makes it – if you haven't been there you need to go.”

Last year 244,461 fans watched the action at Jerez, making it the second best-attended MotoGP event, after Brno, which attracted 245,039 spectators.

Jerez offers a great challenge for riders and engineers with an interesting variety of corners. Excellent machine balance is vital to allow riders to maintain high corner speed through the many long turns, the real secret to a quick Jerez lap. The fastest corners on the track – the Crivillé and Ferrari right-handers – lead into the slowest – the final hairpin, scene of many a thrilling last-lap duel.

Constructed in 1986, Jerez hosted its first GP the following year and quickly became popular with riders, teams and fans. Honda has won 15 of the 21 premier-class GPs at Jerez.

Repsol Honda