Nicky Hayden's ECU gets confused at Estoril

Nicky Hayden suffered an unusual problem during Sunday's Portuguese MotoGP, when the ECU on his Ducati Desmosedici was subject to interference from a radio signal near the track.

As a result, all of the electronic settings were running out of phase with Hayden's real position around the circuit, making riding extremely challenging.

The American spent almost the entire grand prix in eleventh, crossing the line one-minute from race winner Casey Stoner.

"Starting from the first lap, there was an electrical problem and the bike didn't know where it was on the track," said Hayden. "I tried my best to ride around the problem and not make mistakes.

"It's really a shame to work hard all weekend but not be able to take advantage of it with a result in the race. The team did a great job overnight, and I felt so much better this morning in the warm-up. I almost matched my qualifying lap and was pretty consistent.

"Of course I'm not saying I was going to fight for the win, but it would have been nice to at least have a decent race. We'll focus on tomorrow's test now and look forward to the next race at Le Mans."

Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi added: "We're really sorry for Nicky because during the race, a radio signal interfered with our ECU's transponder, forcing him to ride with the electronic calibration out of phase. Riding in those conditions is truly difficult, and he did a great job to finish the race."