Nicky Hayden impressed by Ducati technical boss

Former world champion Nicky Hayden reckons he was ‘blown away’ at his first meeting with Ducati technical guru Filippo Preziosi.

The American got the chance to discuss his future with Preziosi at length at the Misano GP recently, shortly before his deal to join Ducati from Honda was finally confirmed immediately after his first podium finish at Indianapolis.

Preziosi is the technical mastermind behind Ducati’s stunning success in MotoGP, which saw Aussie Casey Stoner claim an emphatic title victory in 2007.

Hayden was certainly impressed after his first dealings with Preziosi and he said: “He wanted to talk to me before I signed because he had a big say in it, it’s his baby.

“I was blown away by the guy, just how he does so much, almost everything. It’s a different system to Honda and I couldn’t believe how much one guy was in charge of it compared to Honda.

“At Honda each guy has one thing to look after. One guy does the front axle and you have a meeting there and it’s all these guys you haven’t met before and they all have a department to look after, but Filippo does it all. He’s the kind of guy I wanted to sit beside when I was in school.”