Hayden's shoulder check

Nicky Hayden flew to San Francisco after his test topping performance in Phillip Island this week to make sure his right shoulder is holding up under the strain of an intensive winter testing schedule.

Hayden’s shoulder is still not 100% after an operation in November to repair a broken collarbone he suffered when Dani Pedrosa controversially torpedoed him off track in Estoril.

Hayden missed one winter test and returned last month in Sepang, but he put the shoulder through a much tougher examination in Australia recently, running over 100 laps on the final day.

He said: “I’m going back to San Francisco to see my doctor to make sure I didn’t do any damage to my shoulder riding in Australia and Malaysia. I wasn’t supposed to do so many laps in Phillip Island but I got carried away, but it felt better this week. I’ll get a check-up and hopefully get a green light.”