Aspar Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Eugene Laverty were both held back by electronic issues in Sunday's season-opening Qatar MotoGP. Hayden was among the few to race the special Open class soft rear tyre and exploited the early grip to rise from 17th to 13th and ahead of factory class Honda rider Scott Redding. But when the grip from his rear tyre dropped, the American's traction control began to overcompensate. "Today I made a decent start that allowed me to climb several positions right away,” Hayden confirmed. “At the beginning of the race I rode well, the feeling was optimal and I pushed hard, trying to catch Redding. I saw that I was slowly catching him, but mid-race the tyre...
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