January 08
Phillip Island, AustraliaJanuary 31, 2008
Phillip Island, Australia
HAYDEN AND REPSOL HONDA SECOND FASTEST ON THE ISLAND
The Northamerican and his team say goodbye to the trainings in Australia and head again to Malaysia to continue with the next week tests
Nicky Hayden and Repsol Honda completed their second 2008 preseason test today, the American ending this Phillip Island session with the second fastest lap time. After yesterday's rainfall, today's conditions were perfect: sunny with ambient temperature at 1 9 to 22 degrees and track temperature at 35 degrees.
Hayden and his hard-working crew dedicated the day to fine-tuning chassis set-up and evaluating Michelin race tyres, though like most other riders he did his best lap on qualifying tyres. The team will continue its preseason work at Sepang, Malaysia, next Tuesday and Wednesday, February 5 and 6.
Hayden was the team's lone ride throughout this test, team-mate Dani Pedrosa recuperating in Europe from a hand injury sustained at Sepang last week. The date for Pedrosa's return to action has yet to be fixed.
MotoGP
Nicky Hayden, fastest lap: 1m 29.734s (lap 71 of 102)
We ended up not too bad but it'd be nicer to be faster on race tyres. To be honest, it's been a frustrating couple of days here. We got into the 31s about the fourth exit from the pits on the first day and really we haven't been able to go any faster since then, except with the qualifiers, which were good. We've chased our tail a bit and I haven't really found a batch of race tyres I like. I struggled a lot when I was here for last year's race, but I did find something I liked. I didn't have that option this week, so I can't say I'm completely happy with the combination of bike, rider and tyres. We tried the pneumatic-valve engine and the conventional spec engine in the new chassis at this test. We did a lot of tyre testing with Michelin using the conventional engine. The chassis did some good stuff but not enough through this fast stuff here. We left Sepang last wee k in a positive way and it's still early days, there's a lot of work still to be done. Now we go back to Sepang for two days, we've got a few days off and then keep trying to chip away at it."
PHILLIP ISLAND, AUSTRALIA - Test Day 1January 30, 2008
NICKY HAYDEN AND THE REPSOL HONDA TEAM CONTINUE TO PRACTICE IN THE AUSTRALIAN RAIN
Hayden took advantage of an excellent opportunity to test the new RC212V in the wet on Phillip Island
Morning rainfall at Phillip Island today gave Nicky Hayden the opportunity to evaluate his 2008 Repsol Honda RC212V for the first time in the rain. The 2006 MotoGP World Champion took to the wet track at 11am, tak ing the opportunity to get a feel for the V4 in low-grip conditions. The rain stopped at lunch time but the track wasn't dry enough to continue with dry track testing until 3.40pm when Hayden returned to action on slicks.
Hayden had a very productive day and was happy with the bike's performance in the rain. His dry-track pace was similar to yesterday's despite cooler conditions and less traction following the rainfall. Tomorrow he will continue working on chassis settings and testing more tyres.
MotoGP
Nicky Hayden >> fastest lap: 1m 31.373s (lap 71 of 72)
You know, we get a lot more dry races than wet, so the dry's more important, but we've got to be ready for everything, so today was useful. We were able to check the bike in the wet and make a few little adjustments. Conditions stayed stable long enough to do that, which a lot of times in the rain is hard, you know, it's dry, it's wet, it's pouring, it's deep water, but today it stayed prett y stable so we got to check some stuff. The general feeling in the wet was okay, then in the afternoon it dried out enough to get some dry lap times. My best time was about the same as I did yesterday, I wasn't able to improve, though conditions were a little bit cooler and not as good today, so I think that's a positive. We're not where we need to be on race pace consistently. I tried to test a few tyres today but at the moment we're struggling for traction on the edge. So we need to have a meeting tonight with Michelin and maybe try something completely different. We struggled a bit here when we were here for the race, so we need to definitely address the problem tomorrow. We get one more day at it and hopefully the weather looks a lot better, so we'll co me in here and try to make a big step forward.
SEPANG, MALAYSIA - Testing Day 3January 23, 2008
THE REPSOL HONDA TEAM RIDER NICKY HAYDEN, THE FASTEST AT SEPANG
The practice sessions in Malaysia ended today. There will be another three days practice starting on 30th January, this time in Australia, on Philip Island
Nicky Hayden completed the first MotoGP tests of 2008 with the fastest lap at Sepang today. The Repsol Honda man rode a stunningly fast lap on qualifiers to top the three-day session. He also set an impressive pace in race tri m, riding his best-ever Sepang lap on race tyres at 2m 01.6s.
The 2006 MotoGP World Champion spent most of the day riding his RC212V equipped with conventional valves after testing Honda's new pneumatic-valve engine this morning. The Sepang weather was typically tropical today, with ambient temperature at 33 degrees and track temperature at 51 degrees.
Team-mate Dani Pedrosa underwent surgery yesterday in Barcelona to fix the right hand injury he suffered when he crashed here at Sepang on January 22. The Spaniard was diagnosed to have suffered a fracture in the second metacarpal and three diaphysary fragments, the bones in the middle section of the metacarpian. The operation, which fixed the damage with a titanium plate and seven screws, was carried out by Dr Xavier Mir at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus. The usual recovery period for such an injury is six weeks, but Dr Mir believes Pedrosa should be a ble to return to riding sooner than that, if all goes well with his recuperation. Hayden resumes testing at Phillip Island, Australian next week, on January 30, 31 and February 1.
MotoGP
Nicky Hayden, fastest lap: 2m 00.326s (lap 25 of 77)
Today's gone a lot better than the last couple and we're feeling positive, I feel like I'm a lot closer than I was a year ago here. This morning we checked the pneumatic valve engine, then we just focused on the standard engine and this year's chassis, working on the general set-up.
I used qualifiers for my fastest lap and they worked well. After that we did a batch of front tyres because one of my weak points here is that sometimes I struggle when this track gets hot. So I did a batch of tyres at the hottest part of the day to improve on that. We hadn't really tested any tyres for Michelin here until today and we wanted to do a long run. That run was decent, probably the best thing I've done all week. I did the best lap I've ever done round here on rac e tyres on lap 18, a 2m 01.6s. At the end of three long days that wasn't too bad. I used a 16.5 on that run but I've also been trying some 16 rears here. Now we go to Phillip Island which is quite a different track with some long corners, some high-speed stuff and a lot of changes of direction. The big thing there is tyres so it'll be really important to do some more tyre work with Michelin there. We will also do some more work with the pneumatic-valve engine. I've got faith in Honda, so hopefully they can make us proud. I think it's going to be a good season, there&rsq uo;s a lot of guys going fast, a lot of guys motivated. It's an exciting time, everyone's at zero.
SEPANG, MALAYSIA - Testing Day 2January 22, 2008
NICKY HAYDEN IMPROVES HIS SPEED DURING THE SECOND DAY OF PRACTICE IN SEPANG
i>Dani Pedrosa has returned to Barcelona and will be operated on today, Wednesday, after damaging the second metacarpian on his right hand
Nicky Hayden continued his sterling work at Sepang today, once again riding more laps than anyone else at the Malaysian circuit. In gruelling tropical heat (ambient 35 degrees, track 51 degrees) the Repsol Honda rider rode 66 laps, cutting more than four tenths off his previous best time from yesterday. Hayden spent most of the day evaluating HRC's latest RC212V engine with pneumatic valves, having spent yesterday using an engine with conventional valves.
The 2006 MotoGP World Champion was Repsol Honda's lone rider today, his team-mate Dani Pedrosa is in Barcelona, Spain, awaiting surgery. The Spaniard broke a bone in his right hand when he fell here yesterday afternoon. Dr Xavier Mir at the Clinica Dexeus is expected to operate on the injury this afternoon. It is not yet known when Pedrosa will be able to ride again.
MotoGP
Nicky Hayden
We used the standard engine in the morning. I set my fastest lap, then we started using the pneumatic-valve engine after about 25 laps. With that engine the bike did feel more like the prototype I rode last November, I guess because the bike was designed to have that engine, so maybe the extra weight makes it work a bit better.
We did have a few little issues with the engine, it's got smoother power and more rpm but top speed is a bit down, plus I was coming in every 12 laps to check the system so it wasn't so easy to get into a rhythm. But I think the pneumatic valves are the way to go because that engine's got more potential. We also tested a clutch with the pneumatic-valve engine, plus some setting parts and fuel injection, more engine type of stuff. We stayed on race tyres all day and made a little bit of progress, four tenths or so. We also tested a couple of tyres, I tried a 16 rear but the balance of the bike wasn't right with that tyre, so we need to look at the data and see what's happening. Now we're going to sit down, talk about it and see which engine we're going to use tomorrow.
