Ducati's Nicky Hayden has said Briton Cal Crutchlow has the potential to be fast should be be given a factory bike to ride in MotoGP next season.
The American, who is out of contract and could find himself replaced by the Monster Yamaha man in 2013, spoke after the race at Assen when was asked what he thought of Crutchlow's comments about how he thought he had same riding style as reigning champion Casey Stoner.
"Cal has got the right attitude, he's not going to give up real easy, but today he was fighting that Yamaha a lot to be racing with me. Obviously he got a bad start, but he's not going to have to fight that Ducati any less," said Hayden.
"People say he rides like Stoner, but from where I'm sitting I don't see him riding a lot like Stoner. From what I watched there's a little difference there. I don't want to sound like a hater, just because they're offering him my bike, but we'll see.
"When people talk about Stoner, they say you gotta be aggressive, and really work that Ducati. But when you saw Stoner go fast on the Ducati he let the bike move, the bike moved but he didn't.
"He was smooth. He never fought the bike, he let the bike just move under him. Where Cal, the bike moves, but also he moves a lot. It's interesting, and he's got a lot of potential, and certainly got the right attitude, he's not gonna give up the first couple of crashes, but it would be interesting to see."
