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Andrea Dovizioso has strongly hinted that he will replace Nicky Hayden in the factory Repsol Honda team next year.

The Italian, who currently rides for the satellite JiR team and has impressed throughout his rookie season in MotoGP, has been repeatedly linked with the works team in recent weeks, and is expected to be announced as Dani Pedrosa's 2009 teammate in due course.

When asked by television station Italia1 if he had signed a Repsol Honda deal, Dovizioso replied: "No, not yet, but I hope I will. You can't say what you're not allowed to..."

Hayden has had an increasingly fractious relationship with Pedrosa, and Dovizioso admitted that he is expecting similar problems when he is paired with the Spaniard.

"Yes, I think they'll try that in every way," Dovizioso replied when asked if he thought Pedrosa and manager Alberto Puig would make his life 'difficult'.

"No-one knows Pedrosa, in my opinion. He doesn't want to be known, he wants to live MotoGP in a different way compared to the others. That's the way he is.

"I don't think anything will change, but we'll see. I'd like to get to know him..."

Dovizioso led a MotoGP race for the first time today at Indianapolis, when he burst through from seventh on the grid to head the field on the opening lap, before later falling back to finish fifth. Hayden and Pedrosa took second and eighth respectively on the factory Hondas.

Andrea Dovizioso reckons he should have been able to fight for the podium at Indianapolis today, had he not taken a gamble with his Michelin tyres.

The JiR Honda rider admitted after the race that his bike had been fitted with tyres he had not previously tried in previous sessions, and the rear was not to his satisfaction.

The Italian rookie managed to get in the lead for the first time in his career during the first lap after starting seventh, but was soon overtaken by Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden - also on Michelins - and Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi.

He ultimately finished the race in a distant fifth place, while the other two former world champions finished second and first respectively.

"I wanted at all costs to lead at least a lap before the end of the season, so I made it," Dovizioso told Italia1 television.

"In these conditions a fifth place is fine because it was really hard, especially after ten laps when a strong wind came.

"I can't be 100 percent happy, however, because we started the race with two tyres we never tried before, we risked a lot, and unfortunately the rear wasn't going very well. At the start it was ok, but as soon as Hayden and especially Valentino started to go quick, there was nothing I could do.

"It's a shame, because I think I could have given trouble at least to Hayden. By contrast the front tyre was good, but I couldn't get into corners aggressively because I was losing grip."