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Race Report Laguna SecaNicky Hayden - 5th - Repsol Honda press Release
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden ended a tough weekend at Laguna Seca this afternoon with a determined ride to fifth place. The American was the Repsol Honda team’s sole representative in the US GP after team-mate Dani Pedrosa yesterday withdrew due to the severity of the injuries he suffered in Germany last Sunday.
Hayden made a great start from the front row of the grid, holding third place for the first seven laps. He then spent the middle stage of the race battling for fourth place with Andrea Dovizioso, eventually finishing just behind the Italian. Hayden won this race in 2005 and 2006 but today he recorded his fastest-ever Laguna race time, 25 seconds quicker than his winning 2006 pace. He was a non-finisher last year.
Nicky's Comment
“Obviously at my home race I’d hoped to be able to put up a better fight than that. It was certainly a tough weekend, we struggled a bit with the tyres we had available. We really had only two race tyres, the one I used in practice I kept using again and again, I used it Friday, Saturday and again this morning, by the end it had 35 laps on it. I think I learned a good lesson, we set up the bike on quite old tyres. In the race when we put in a grippy new race tyre the balance of the bike changed a lot, so it was pushing the front in a lot of places. I would’ve liked to have been closer to the front but I think we learned a good lesson. Now we’ve got a few weeks off, so we’ll regroup and try to finish the year strong. Hopefully I can improve and they can do some work in Japan.”
Qualifying Report -Nicky Hayden, 3rd fastest, 1m 21.430sJuly 20 - Repsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden will start tomorrow’s US GP from the front row of the grid following a stirring charge in the final stages of this afternoon’s qualifying session.
In warm, sunny conditions that followed another misty start to the day, Hayden rode his fastest-ever lap of Laguna Seca, almost 1.2 seconds faster than his 2007 qualifying pace. The American, winner here in 2005 and 2006, will tomorrow aim for his first podium of the 2008 season to back up his first front-row start since June’s Catalan GP.
Nicky's Comments
“Qualifying was difficult, there were many guys crashing. Qualifying is so important here because it’s so hard to pass, so some guys are willing to pay a big price for a good grid position. Our race pace isn’t exactly blazing but it’s really nice to be on the front row in front of the home crowd, the support is awesome. I know tomorrow’s going to be really tough, Casey [Stoner] is on fire right now and we’re having a few little issues, but the team’s done a good job and I feel like we deserve a good result. Hoping won’t get it though, so we’ll come in here tomorrow, ride hard and see if we can’t pull something out. I’m a little bit nervous. Truth is, the tyres we’ve got in our allocation are a little out of the range, so the warmer the better for us. We changed the bike a little bit to make the tyres work more and the qualifying tyres were awesome. Actually I felt like I maybe left a couple of tenths in them but I was running about as hard as I could.
Hopefully we can put on a good show tomorrow and not let this guy disappear. A podium would be great, but to try to fight with Casey would be a long shot. We never give up, anything can happen when we line up, so we’ll come in here, try to have fun, try my hardest and I know I’ll have plenty of support. I’m looking forward to it.”
Race Report - Sachsenring - Repsol Honda Press Release13 July -13th Place
The Repsol Honda Team endured its toughest day of the year so far at rain-lashed Sachsenring today. Hayden was confident of a good race, wet or dry, but soon after the start the American realised he had traction issues. After a difficult first few laps he came in to change his rear tyre. After that pit stop Hayden’s pace improved but he still felt something was amiss with his machine. Nonetheless the former World Champion persevered, bringing his RC212V home in the atrocious conditions for three World Championship points.
Nicky's Comment
“Today was a bit of a disaster, really. All weekend in the dry we had been going okay but conditions changed a lot for the race. I was actually glad it was raining because the bike has been working good in the rain recently, but the race turned into a disaster. The tyre choice wasn’t good and something also didn’t look right on the electronics, seems like it was a combination of problems. We came in and changed the rear tyre to a slightly different compound. Things were a lot better when I went out but I was right in the middle of everybody and I didn’t want to get in the way of people racing. We got a few points. Now it’s Laguna next weekend, so we’ll just keep pushing and hope to catch a break somewhere along the way.”
German Grand Prix, Sachsenring, Nicky Hayden, eighth fastest, 1m 21.876sJuly 12
Nicky Hayden was impressive this morning, running third fastest, but wasn’t quite able to repeat the performance in qualifying, coming out eighth.
The morning session started on a wet track following an earlier downpour but by the end of the hour Hayden was running fast on race tyres, the only riders to improve on their Friday pace.
Nicky's comment
“This morning we made a bit of an improvement and I was able to improve my lap time even though the track wasn’t so good, so I was quite excited, I thought we had a good chance in qualifying. At the start of qualifying I was going decent on some pretty used tyres that by the end had race distance on them, so I felt pretty good. But the qualifiers didn’t go as we wanted. We had an issue with a front wheel sensor when I went out on my third qualifier, so we had to come in and change the sensor, which lost us some time and some rhythm. Basically we didn’t get it done. On qualifiers my T1 and T2 times were really good but T3 and T4 weren’t so good. It seems like maybe we were a little soft on the front suspension or we’ve improved the rear so much that maybe it’s overworking the front tyre. Looking at tomorrow, I’ve gotten some good starts this year, we’re right in the middle of the third row, so I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of drama, plenty of action. I feel like we’ve got a decent pace, so the race should be okay.”
Race Report - Assen - Repsol Honda Press ReleaseJune 28
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden looked set to score his first podium of the season at Assen today. Hayden ran strong, just a few seconds down on his team-mate throughout, until his bike suddenly slowed within sight of the finish. The American coasted over the line in fourth, just seconds after compatriot Colin Edwards had passed him to snatch third place.
The race began under threatening skies but the rain stayed away as the Repsol Honda duo quickly established themselves in second and third behind winner Casey Stoner. HRC technicians are now examining Hayden’s RC212V to discover the exact cause of his end-of-race electronics problem.
Nicky's Comment
“Man, we had a pretty good race. Unfortunately this game can be cruel sometimes. To be so close to a really good result is tough, but we still finished, we made it across the line and still got some good points out of the deal, but it would’ve been nice to stand on the podium. The team certainly deserved it, they’ve worked really hard this weekend. On the sighting lap I knew something was wrong. It’s been a little bit frustrating because she hasn’t run right off the bottom since I got here, especially out of slow corners. They’ve been changing stuff and they thought they had it fixed but something was wrong. I had a dash light come on at the start of the race, though it went off after the start. She finally quit right before the finish line. It’s how it goes, I guess me and Colin are even now, he gave me one here a couple of years ago and I gave him a podium today. There at the end I was trying to make a push on Dani, I wanted to keep the pressure on him, he was coming back to me a bit. I was pushing, then on the last lap I thought ‘oh no, we’re in trouble’. Nonetheless the bike is working good, now they’ve got a week and a half to hopefully sort it out in Japan and we can keep moving on.”
Qualifying Report - AssenJune 27 - Repsol Honda Press Release
Nicky Hayden enjoyed a strong qualifying session, the American fourth quickest, just 0.455 seconds off pole.
Hayden was also impressive in this morning’s practice session, run on a damp and drying track, ending the outing in third positions. This afternoon’s conditions were dry but blustery. Hayden, using the pneumatic-valve RCV engine for the second race, might have done even better if he had had time to use his final qualifying tyre. He also lost some time on his fastest lap when John Hopkins crashed just in front of him as they attacked the high-speed Ramshoek left-hander in the closing stages of the hour-long outing.
Tomorrow’s 60th Assen World Championship TT is the ninth race of the 2008 season and the halfway point in the 18-race campaign.
Nicky's Comments
“This morning the bike was working quite good in the wet and on intermediates. That session sucked for learning much about the dry but I got some good experience out there on intermediates front and rear and it felt quite good, I was able to stay out and get a good feel for it. This afternoon seemed to go so quick. We tried a couple of little things on the front, but after the first run we had to go back to what we had before because the changes helped in some areas but overall they made it worse. We started putting our qualifiers and then I had an issue with the clutch which lost us some time in the tyre changes, so ultimately I didn’t get to use my last qualifier, so we had one bullet left in the chamber that we didn’t use. The Michelin qualifiers were working awesome round here, every one we put in I kept getting faster, so it would’ve been fun to fire the last one in there. It’s going to be a hard race tomorrow, I’m not making no predictions, we’ll see what we can do, go for the best result we can.”
Free Practice - AssenJune 26 - Repsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden made a solid start to this week’s Dutch TT at Assen today, placed fourth fastest after the first two practice sessions.
In sunny but blustery conditions Hayden and Pedrosa were second and third fastest this morning. Nicky improved his times this afternoon. Hayden is using the pneumatic-valve RCV engine for the second time this weekend while Pedrosa sticks with the conventional spring-valve engine.
This year’s Dutch TT is a particularly historic event. Assen is the only MotoGP track surviving from the World Championship’s inaugural year in 1949, making this the 60th consecutive World Championship event at the Dutch venue.
Nicky's Comment
“It’s nice to finally see a little bit of summer weather starting to hit Europe. The track is in great condition, they did a great job of having it clean, so we were able to get up to speed a lot faster than last year. All in all it’s been a pretty solid day. We made a little bit of an improvement this afternoon. I wasn’t able to improve my best time by much but I was able to be a lot more consistent out there. I was hoping to go a little quicker at the end which didn’t happen. The bike’s working pretty well here but we’re certainly going to have to step it up a bit to get in there and be really competitive. We’ve got a few ideas to try and make it a little bit better tomorrow, the rider too.”
Local children meet MotoGP champion at Donington ParkJune 22
Nicky Hayden, motoGP champion, took time out from practice at the world championships on Saturday 21 June to meet a group of children from Make-A-Wish Foundation UK, the leading wishgranting charity which grants wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. Each year Nicky invites a group of children to meet him and be his special guests at Donington Park motor racing circuit, Derby. This is Nicky’s fourth year meeting UK wish children and he is a huge supporter of the charity.
Among the group were Jack Padmore, five, and his brother Noah, four, from Willington, Derby. Both boys are both living with liver transplants; they were joined by Carley Gregory, 11, from Ashbourne, Derbyshire, who is living with Neurofibromatosis.
The children enjoyed VIP treatment from the off, arriving at Donington Park in a luxury limousine and enjoying non-alcoholic pink champagne and lollipops. On arrival they were taken to Nicky’s hospitality trailer where they were presented with a rucksack filled with goodies, including a T-shirt and cap.
The day continued with a lap around the track in the safety car for Noah and Jack, followed by lunch in Nicky’s hospitality trailer. The children even got the chance to watch some of the days exciting races. The children were then presented with more bags of treats before having their photograph taken with Nicky, who is currently ranked 8th in the world. The children were over the moon at the number of goodies they received. To top the day off Jack, Noah and Carley were presented with one final present to treasure; a massive signed and framed photo of Nicky, taken during a previous race.
Jack Padmore says: “We had a really amazing day! The safety car was all nice and comfy and went fast”
Carley Gregory says: “Today has been fantastic. I couldn’t have wished for anything more! I’ve been spoilt today.”
Natalie Martin-Loat – Regional Manager for Eastern England says: “The day was a great success and all of the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves, I would like to say a massive thank you to Nicky, his team and sponsors for allowing our children this opportunity and for taking the time to come and meet them and give them lots of goodies.”
For information visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk
Race Report - British GP - DoningtonJune 22
Nicky Hayden rode his first race with the pneumatic-valve RCV engine and finished seventh after running in the top four. Weather conditions have been changeable throughout the weekend here with heavy rain yesterday and strong winds today. The race was watched by a record 88,000 fans.
Hayden had an even busier afternoon, battling back and forth with Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda), Chris Vermeulen and others, despite being distracted by a dash light that came on unexpectedly at one-third distance. Nicky’s pace improved once again in the later stages and he finished the race with plenty of data that will allow the team to improve performance for next Saturday’s Dutch TT at Assen, the midpoint in the 2008 MotoGP World Championship.
Nicky's Comments
“We learned a lot this weekend. We could’ve done with another day in the dry to really understand things. I’m actually pretty positive, we’ll try to put everything we’ve learned to good use at Assen. We didn’t really know what to expect here, everything went smooth until this morning when we had to switch bikes. The first few laps of the race went okay and then about lap nine I had a dash light come on. I didn’t know what it was for, but if a sensor goes bad you realise just how much you use traction control, engine braking control and things like that. It was nothing serious but I lost some confidence for a couple of laps, so my lap times fell and it upset my rhythm while I got my confidence back. The guys are looking into it now. It would’ve been nice to finish higher up, because I’ve got a lot of English guys in the box. The bike was pretty consistent at the end and I got back into the 29s. We learned a lot about fuel, tyre life and so on, we got a lot of information. We knew the first race might not be easy, so I hope we can build from here. Thanks to the team and to HRC for all their hard work.”
Qualifying Report - British GP - DoningtonJune 21
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden today qualified fourth fastest for tomorrow’s British Grand Prix, round eight of this year’s MotoGP World Championship.
Following yesterday’s two dry sessions, rain dominated today. This morning’s practice outing was run in heavy rain while this afternoon’s qualifying session was run on a wet but drying track. Hayden, third fastest in the morning but found the damp conditions more challenging. Hayden, using the pneumatic-valve RC212V engine for the first time at a race, was once again impressive, ending the day just a quarter of a second off the front row. The American is very much looking forward to racing the pneumatic-valve engine for the first time.
Nicky's Comments
“I had hoped to be on the front row. Fourth here isn’t so bad and we will be okay so long as we can get some stuff sorted out for the race. If it’s wet tomorrow we’re lucky it rained because we’re using a completely different engine and today was the first time I rode it in the rain. It took some adjusting to, just a few laps to get comfortable on it. The engine is a little bit aggressive but I was able to control it okay. We certainly need more time to understand it some more but all in all it’s not too bad. We knew this weekend we were going to be a little bit in the dark because we don’t know what this bike is going to do on tyres over race distance and we could’ve done with some more time on fuel consumption. This morning things felt good in the wet, but when things dried out this afternoon we were struggling to go fast, that’s where we’ve got to work with Michelin to improve. The track’s slippery, but it’s cold too and that can make as much different as the surface. The race will be fun nonetheless, see what happens when that light goes out…”
First Day of Practice reportFriday June 20 - Repsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden was second in today’s opening two practice sessions at Donington Park.
Hayden had a positive day, using HRC’s pneumatic-valve engine at a race for the first time. The 2006 MotoGP World Champion worked hard at dialling in the engine, which has a 1000rpm higher rev ceiling than the valve-spring RCV engine, ending the day half a second off reigning champ Casey Stoner.
Nicky's Comments
“Everything went relatively smooth today, though conditions were a little bit chilly, a little bit dirty. Honestly I’ve got to thank HRC. I told them that I really wanted to use the pneumatic-valve engine here, so they worked some on the electronics and the guys said I could use it, so long as I was going to be in the top three or four! I was second this afternoon and fifth this morning, so that kinda evens out, do the math. Sure, Stoner’s going quick and we’ve got some work to do to get with him but overall the bike is working good, so thanks to HRC and the team for delivering. The engine is pretty aggressive, but I like to go somewhere when I open the throttle, I like something to happen. It’s a little bit quicker, so it’s nice to be up near the front of the trap speeds. I was fourth from the top today, even though this is only a small, fifth-gear straight. I also had a new chassis today which felt better, it’s a little bit of an improvement stability-wise.”
Catalan GP, Barcelona8 June Repsol Honda Press Release
Nicky Hayden had another tough one, coming in eighth after running sixth. Hayden had an altogether more difficult afternoon. The American looked strong in the early stages but set-up issues prevented him from holding a consistent fast pace.
Today’s record crowd showed their enthusiasm for MotoGP by making it into the track despite traffic jams caused by a transport strike.
Nicky's Comments
“We knew the race was going to be tough. Our bike has worked quite well when we had grip but something with the set-up right now we’re not getting the tyre life we need. It was okay in the beginning but I couldn’t maintain the pace. Something in the set-up is hurting the tyre life, it’s quite frustrating. We were in there early and thought we might be on for a good result and then we lost touch and went backward. The rear brake went out towards the end which didn’t help things. Eighth place is not what we want. We’ve got a really important two days of testing which we need. I’m certainly looking forward to it, hopefully we can get a couple of things sorted out.”
Qualifying Report - Catalan GP7 June - Barcelona - Repsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden scorched to a front-row start at Catalunya today, setting third fastest times in this afternoon’s thrilling qualifying session. Hayden just 0.251 seconds off pole.
Hayden also set impressive times in race trim, Hayden coming in fifth. This is Hayden’s best qualifying performance of the year so far, following two fourth places at Jerez and Estoril. The American will now sit down with their Michelin technicians to make their final tyre choice for tomorrow’s race, round seven in the 2008 MotoGP World Championship.
Nicky's Comments
“It’s nice to be up there and so close to pole position, I’m pretty happy. I really enjoyed those laps today with the qualifiers. It’s fun when it goes like that and being competitive is nice. Things went relatively smooth this weekend, the bottom line is that we need to turn it into a result tomorrow. We’ll see about tyre choice, that’s going to be the biggest mission tonight – trying to make the perfect choice. Then we’ve got to get a good start, stick our nose in there and see what happens. It’s nice to be on the front row, hopefully this can be something to get things headed back in the right direction. Thanks to my team and everyone in my corner for their support, I know I got a lot of people riding with me.”
Free Practice - Catalan GPJune 6
Nicky Hayden made solid progress, ending the day ninth, less than six tenths off the fastest lap of the day.
Track conditions were more slippery than usual today following heavy rain throughout much of yesterday. Seven riders crashed during the morning and afternoon sessions, Pedrosa sliding off in the final minutes of the second outing, after he already had ridden his best lap.
Nicky's Comment
“Today hasn’t been the smoothest. There’s a lot of long corners here, so we’ve been trying to get a bit of rear traction, that’s what we’re working on. We’ve tried a few things and we had something we were going to try on the second bike this afternoon but we lost a bit of time with that bike. There’s been a lot of rain here the last couple of days, this morning the track was a bit damp off line, with a little bit of water sitting in the kerbs, which made them pretty slippery. This afternoon the weather was perfect but the track was still a little slippery off-line.”
Italian GP - Race Results1 June
Nicky Hayden had high hopes of a strong race following a promising performance in morning warm-up but the American ran into difficulties and came home an unlucky 13th.
After Mugello the MotoGP action switches to Spain for the following weekend’s Catalan GP outside Barcelona. This is MotoGP’s busiest period with six races over eight weekends.
Nicky's Comment
“This morning we made a nice step, we made a suspension adjustment and the bike felt a lot better, so we had a pretty good pace. We were certainly unlucky in the race. I got an awesome start, felt pretty good, but it was clear from the beginning that we had a problem. Guys started coming past and there was nothing I could do, there was no way to defend. So I just tried to get to the finish and get a couple of points. They’re checking the data now to see exactly what happened. Like I said, we were quite unlucky, I knew we didn’t have Rossi’s pace this morning, but we had enough pace to be in there, to be quite competitive. I don’t know yet which engine I’ll be using next weekend. To be honest, I’ve been concentrating on this race, so I haven’t thought about it yet.”
Italian GP - Qualifying31 May, Repsol Honda Press Release
Nicky Hayden went well today with sixth best time in qualifying, only half a second off pole.
After yesterday’s rain-lashed first day of practice there was further rainfall this morning, so qualifying was the first fully dry session of the weekend. Race tyre selection will thus be a more than usually complicated affair, with Repsol Honda engineers working closely with Michelin technicians to choose the best tyres for tomorrow’s race. Despite the lack of dry-track time the pace was red hot, with pole position eight tenths faster than the previous best Mugello pole, set by a 990cc MotoGP bike in 2006.
Nicky's Comment
“We’ve basically only had one completely dry session all weekend – so we’ve tried out a lot of tyres: rains, intermediates and qualifiers and just a couple of race tyres. So that’s certainly a big issue for tomorrow, we don’t know a lot about what race tyres to run, so we’ll definitely let Michelin help us a little there. We made a bit of progress this afternoon and ended up on the second row. I’m not going to fool myself though, it’s certainly going to be a hard one tomorrow, some guys going really quick. It’d be nice to improve in warm-up, we’ve got some work to do to try and get closer to the front. Then we’ll just try to get a start and go for it.”
Italian GP, MugelloFriday May 30th
Inclement weather and changeable track conditions dominated today’s proceedings at Mugello, riders contending with a damp track this morning and heavy rainfall this afternoon. Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden excelled in the conditions, the American leading the morning session at one point and ending the afternoon outing second fastest. On combined session times Hayden was 12th overall.
Nicky's Comment
“Everything went pretty smooth today apart from the weather. This morning right at the end it didn’t look good because we were on wets and the guys on slicks took a lot of time out of us, but earlier when it was raining, we were on top with not long to go. This afternoon at the beginning things weren’t great, we were maybe a little bit too hard on set-up, then when the heavy rain stopped the tyres and bike worked better. We tried a few things for the rain but we ended up with the bike exactly how it was when we got it off the truck and that seems the best set-up for us. I know it’s only in the wet, but the way things went at Le Mans, it’s certainly a bit more fun when you’re near the front and competitive, whether it’s wet or dry or snowing or whatever. If it’s dry tomorrow it’ll be really important to make the most of the two hours for the race on Sunday.”
French Grand Prix - Race Report18 May, Repsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden finished eighth in today’s rain-affected French GP at Le Mans. Hayden, who qualified sixth fastest, lost several places mid-race when he ran off the track but kept battling hard all the way to the finish. Hayden’s off-track excursion at the Garage Vert corner dropped him to tenth on lap 14, the American gaining two places as rivals hit problems.
The Repsol Honda Team will test here tomorrow, focusing on chassis settings and tyre testing with Michelin. Hayden will then travel back to the US where next weekend he will ride a demo lap aboard a 2007 RC212V before the start of the huge Indy 500 car race to promote September’s inaugural Indianapolis MotoGP event.
Nicky's Comments
“That wasn’t too pretty. All weekend we’ve been missing something, the pace hasn’t been there. I got a good start and recovered a couple of positions but couldn’t go with the group I needed to go with. I was hanging in there, then I ran off the track in turn six, got in just a little bit hot, didn’t make it and that lost me three positions. I came back on, had a little dice with Loris over the last few laps but it wasn’t the result we wanted. It was definitely tough conditions, it wasn’t just a few drops of rain it was straight-up raining through some parts of the track. With the tyres being that hot the lap times didn’t suffer too bad, but I was kinda hoping the rain would come down and let us swap bikes and try something different, but it didn’t happen. This has never been an easy track for me, I’d say Le Mans is the worst track for me on the calendar. Tomorrow we’ll work on chassis stuff. I need to try getting some momentum going, especially for the tracks I really love that are coming up. I need to be strong when I get to them, I need to use the people around me to find what I need”
French Grand Prix - Qualifying reportSaturday May 17 2008 - Repsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden put in a strong performance during this afternoon’s French qualifying session, Hayden snatching a second-row start.
Hard-working Hayden and his crew have focused on improving corner-entry performance at this tight and complex track. The American moved up to sixth fastest in qualifying but his crew will make further changes overnight in an effort to improve his pace in race trim.
Weather conditions at Le Mans have been very changeable so far this weekend, with this morning’s third practice session getting underway on a damp track and this afternoon’s qualifying outing run in cool and mostly overcast conditions with the occasional sunny spell. There is still a possibility of rain tomorrow.
Nicky's Comments
“It definitely hasn’t been an easy day or an easy weekend. We haven’t really found a direction even though we’ve been trying a lot of things. This afternoon I think we made a bit of progress and got a better feeling as time went on, so I was able to put one down later on and get a respectable grid position. But I really need to come up with something for tomorrow if I don’t want to watch them guys completely disappear in the race. It’s going to be hard. Getting into the corners has been the issue, then when we get the front better we hurt the rear, so it’s been a constant compromise all weekend. We’ve been making a little bit bigger changes than we would usually make during a race weekend but sometimes that has to be done. We’ll definitely try another little something in warm-up. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight, but these boys aren’t scared of a little hard work.”
First day of practice - French Grand Prix16 May - Repsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden had a more difficult day, ending up 12th fastest, but the American is confident of improvement tomorrow, so long as the forecast rain stays away.
With showers predicted for tomorrow, there was extra pressure on the team to find the best-possible set-up during today’s two one-hour outings. Hayden worked to improve corner-entry performance.
Le Mans has been slightly modified for this year’s event. The Garage Vert hairpin at the bottom of the circuit been adapted to improve run-off
Nicky's Comments
"Things didn’t go as smooth as we’d have liked today. Braking at this track is so important and I don’t have a good feeling when I’m braking. Straight line or leaned over, the front end doesn’t feel so good. I don’t know why, but I was hurting a little bit in that area in China too. We’re basically a full second off the pace and that’s a lot on a 1 minute 34 lap, so we need to sort something overnight. We really never found a direction all day, we were chasing our tails, so that makes it hard, and it’s never good to fall behind when there’s rain in the forecast. I know the team will work hard, so I’m confident in that.”
Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai, Repsol Honda Press ReleaseMay 4
Hayden made a great start from the fourth row of the grid and spent the race fighting back and forth with a number of rivals including Marco Melandri, Andrea Dovizioso, Colin Edwards and Lorenzo. Down in eighth at one stage, he modified his lines and adjusted his traction control to fight back to take sixth during the final few laps.
Nicky's Comments
“We knew starting tenth was never going to be easy. I crashed my number one bike in qualifying, then this morning I rode the other bike, so I started the race with the bike I’d crashed but it was fine. I got a really good start and a good first corner too, but I just couldn’t go with the lead group today. We had a huge tailwind on the back straightaway, so I was running out of gear. It made it so hard to get it stopped for the corner at the end of the straight, so a lot of guys were running wide. Mid-race I had a few problems, felt a few drops of rain, and my corner speed in the long corners wasn’t so good. Towards the end I changed a few little things with my lines and the traction control settings. I started to move forward and at the end I was going pretty good. There was a lot of good battling going on but it would’ve been better to have been battling for a better position. I didn’t give up, kept pushing and picked off a few guys near the end.”
Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden fought hard in a tough qualifying session at Shanghai this afternoon, ending up tenth quickest.
There were several fallers this afternoon, Hayden one of them. The American slid off with 18 minutes to go while on a red-hot qualifying lap that would have put him much closer to the front of the grid. The tumble also lost Hayden some momentum because it took him a crucial five minutes to get back to his pit and collect his number-two machine. He ended the session just a fraction off a third-row start.
Latest race-day weather forecasts predict rain for the Shanghai area.
Nicky's Comments
“Qualifying didn’t go to plan, really. It was okay in the beginning, we were quite up front on race tyres. With my first qualifier I went to first place for a second, then with my second qualifier I just had an easy front push in turn 11 and down I went. I had a pretty good lap going but just didn’t get it down. The track is so long and so big it took me forever to get back to the pits, a little bit walking, a little bit scooter. Then I just got out on the other bike and did one run and didn’t get the chance to improve my time. It was a pity because things were looking quite good on race tyres – this morning I did over race distance and was quite happy. This afternoon the track felt a bit greasy, there were a lot of guys crashing. I’ve put myself in a nice hole starting tenth, I haven’t qualified off the front two rows in the dry since Barcelona last year. I’m going to need an awesome start, try to pick a few guys off and move forward.”
Nicky to ride at Indy 500!
The American will thus get the chance to introduce MotoGP machinery to the world's largest single-day spectator sporting event audience - potentially as high as 300,000 - prior to the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP, to be held on September 14 around the circuit's new 2.620-mile road course.
Hayden will ride around the legendary 2.5-mile oval aboard the 2007 Repsol Honda RC212V on which he competed in the 2008 season-opening Grand Prix of Qatar on March 9, approximately one hour before the start of the 92nd Indy 500.
"What an opportunity for the sport, my sponsors and most of all, for me!" beamed Hayden. "This is going to be cool, to do a lap in front of such a huge audience live and on TV on what is arguably the most famous track and race in the whole world. I hope the fans like what they see and hear, and hope they plan on coming back in September when the bikes roll out at IMS for the first time in a long time.
Nicky Comments
"I just need to get it straight with the officials that I don't mind rolling round in second gear waving to the fans, but when I come off Turn 4, the Pace Car needs to hold its line because as I head toward the bricks, I plan to open that baby up a little and blow out the cobwebs a little," he warned. The demonstration ride will mark Hayden's second trip to Indianapolis in as many months.
The Kentuckian officially christened the new Indianapolis road course with a lap on a vintage Indian motorcycle that competed in the only other motorcycle race at IMS, in 1909, and also turned laps on a Honda CBR1000 production bike.
Race Report Estoril - Repsol Honda Press Release
Gallant Hayden was also charging hard, moving through the pack from seventh place on the first place, picking off rivals here and there until he found himself in fourth place just after half way. The American had been chipping away at the leading group, closing a few tenths every lap, until he lost the front and fell going into turn seven on lap 17. His pace had been impressive, good enough for the third fastest lap of the race.
Nicky's Comments
“The first few laps were certainly not easy, some parts of the track were a little wetter than others and I had on a pretty hard tyre. I had been choosing between that tyre and another a little bit softer, but with the way the weather’s been this weekend we really hadn’t got to do a lot of endurance on the harder one. I got settled in, and the warmer I was getting the tyres the better they were working and I was able to start moving up, so things were feeling pretty good. I made a few passes, I’d just got into fourth, felt like I wanted to close the gap on the guys in front of me. You know, I got fourth place at Jerez and I certainly didn’t want to settle in there and ride around, so I had to push hard and you know when you push hard you make mistakes. It’s not a parade you can’t just cruise around. The bike was working good, the tyres were working good, I felt pretty comfortable, so I was pushing. Turn seven’s downhill, certainly a trick corner, the front let go pretty early and down I went. It’s unfortunate because the bike was working good and we were hungry for a good result, so my own mistake. We just have to step it up a bit."
Repsol Honda Portuguese Grand Prix, EstorilApril 12
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden was once again in storming form in qualifying, fourth places on the Estoril grid, just as he did at Jerez two weeks ago.
Nicky Hayden was a tantalising seven hundredths of a second off his first front-row start of the year and may have made the front row if he hadn’t been baulked on one of his qualifying runs. The biggest question on the rider's mind is the Estoril weather which is proving to be as unpredictable as ever.
Nicky's Comment
“Our target was always to start from the front row and we achieved it. We are happy with today’s qualifying result, especially because it’s very important to start from the front row at this track and because qualifying isn’t our strong point at the moment. Our race pace was good today, but we still want to try and improve the bike a little bit more, working on the chassis settings. Also, we haven’t chosen which tyres we will use tomorrow because the weather conditions are so changeable here, so we will have wait a bit more.
The big question is what the weather will do tomorrow afternoon. I’m looking forward to the race. It will be very important to make a good start, then we will see what we can do from there. I expect it to be very close at the front tomorrow because there’s a lot of riders going fast here, for sure it’s going to be tough.”
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Estoril Free Practice - Repsol Honda press release11 April
Nicky Hayden just 0.181 seconds down in fourth place. 2006 MotoGP World Champion Hayden was happy with his day’s work, making only minor changes to his RC212V’s setup, and is looking forward to further progress tomorrow.
Last year Hayden got pole position and the lap record here, while Pedrosa finished the race in second place.
Nicky's Comments
“Everything went pretty well, it’s been quite a positive day, I think we had a pretty good start to things. Sure we’re gonna have to improve a little bit, but seems like in the wet and dry we got a bike working relatively well, so if we can sweeten up a few things tomorrow, hopefully we can really be up there come Sunday. More or less the bike was working okay without a lot of big changes, so we’re running a pretty similar setup to what I ran at Jerez, just a few little clickers here and there. Conditions were not easy, the morning was wet, then half and half and the afternoon was a little bit patchy and windy, so sure it was quite challenging, but the team’s done a good job and we’ve got a pretty decent setup, so we’ll see tomorrow.”
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EVENT PREVIEW - PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX, ESTORILRepsol Honda Press Release
Repsol Honda RC212V riderNicky Hayden heads into the Portuguese Grand Prix aiming to keep improving following a superb Spanish GP. 2006 MotoGP champ Hayden took an excellent fourth-place finish after running with the leaders.
Nicky spent two further days at Jerez testing components, tyres and setup options that should put them in even better shape at Estoril. Meanwhile Hayden set the fastest lap of the tests while evaluating Michelin rear tyres and some new clutch parts for smoother corner entries.
Estoril is a complex and tricky circuit with some dramatic contrasts – the chicane is MotoGP’s slowest corner and the kink onto the back straight is one of the fastest. Riders need a well-balanced machine that is manageable in slower turns and stable in the fast sweepers, with good top speed for the 320km/h-199mph main straight and excellent braking stability.
Hayden is the current Estoril lap record holder and also took pole position at last year’s event
Nicky's Comment
“Hopefully we’ve got things rolling now. Jerez wasn’t bad, good enough to make me look forward to Estoril where we’ll be working to keep going forward. It’s is an old-school track, it’s a strange little place, not very wide and kinda odd. It can be a lot of fun or it can be miserable. It’s got that little bus-stop chicane which is probably the slowest corner in MotoGP, but I really like the right-hand kink onto the back straightaway, that’s pretty fast and cool. And I love the last corner coming onto the front straightaway – when the bike works good and steers through there it can be pretty fun. Obviously you want something with some horsepower because the front straightaway goes on for days. And you need something to get through the tight, twisty bits. One other thing, there’s definitely a lot more right-handers, so you need softer compounds on the left side of the tyres.”
