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First '09 test gets underway in SepangFeb 5

Day 1
The opening test of the 2009 preseason got underway on a cloudy but dry day at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia today, with Ducati MotoGP Team riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden both on track – the Australian returning to action after missing the previous test as he recovered from a scaphoid operation. Stoner is still not in peak condition and unable to push too hard, with his wrist feeling weak after three months out of action, yet he was on the pace throughout the day. The former World Champion reported positive feedback from the GP9 and was happy with the work done on the new carbon chassis and tyres.

Hayden set about his Sepang testing programme in methodical manner and with his usual hard-working approach, making as few changes as possible to the bike in the early part of the three-day session. The American is happy with the new bike’s performance in corner entry but despite adapting well to the new Bridgestone tyres he is still looking for more stability from the bike in corner exit.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati MotoGP Team), fastest lap  2'04.002 (60 laps)

“We started out with the same set-up as Jerez, because after two months without riding it was better to go with something we knew. We haven’t made massive changes over the course of the day, mainly because before we do that I need to pick up my own pace. The bike feels good on the brakes and it is stable and precise in the fast corners. I’m struggling a bit on corner exit though because it still tends to pump quite a lot and I’m not used to that yet. We’re working to reduce it and we’ve got a couple of ideas that we’ll check out over the next two days. I like the new tyre rule. We’d got to a point where we were working too much on the tyres and there wasn’t enough time to work on the set-up of the bike. Now we just have a choice of two tyres, both of which work well even though I’m not able to get the most out of the harder compound yet, and that makes the job much easier for the team.”

Casey Stoner (Ducati MotoGP Team), fastest lap 2'02.038 (34 laps)

 "This morning was really difficult, I really didn’t feel comfortable on the bike. My wrist is still in a lot of pain and I honestly hoped it would be in better shape than this after three months since the operation. Even though the lap times were good from the start the wrist was still giving me a lot of problems – it is weak and painful under braking, especially in the first left-hand turn. I can’t do more than four or five laps at a time and there’s nothing I can do about that at the moment, other than hope that it improves over time. Sepang is a physically demanding circuit and probably not the best place to be riding for the first time after three months out. I preferred not to ride too much and tire myself out and hopefully it will already be a bit better tomorrow. Freddy, our physiotherapist, has a bit of work to do tonight! The GP9 is running well and I have the same positive feeling as the last two tests at Barcelona and Valencia. The chassis is completely different and we’ll have to work on improving the set-up but we have a good starting point and we can use the GP8 as a reference. The power delivery has improved and now we have more torque, which helps on the exit of the slower corners. Bridgestone have brought two compounds here that both work well, although I prefer the harder one because even though it is a little more difficult to ride it guarantees a more consistent performance."

SEPANG RECORDS
Circuit Record: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2007) 2’02.108
Best pole: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2006) 2’00.605

Unofficial lap times - Thursday 05/02/2009

1.    Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 2:01.869 (37 giri)
2.    Casey STONER (Ducati) 2:02.038 (34)
3.    Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 2:02.324 (31)
4.    Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 2:02.803 (55)
5.    Toni ELIAS (Honda) 2:02.886 (52)
6.    Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 2:03.088 (50)
7.    Colin EDWARDS(Yamaha) 2:03.254 (34)
8.    Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 2:03.312 (44)
9.    Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati) 2:03.750 (54)
10.    Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 2:03.894 (61)
11.    Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 2:04.002 (60)
12.    Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 2:04.396 (53)
13.    Mika KALLIO (Ducati) 2:04.405 (60)
14.    James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 2:04.502 (34)
15.    Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 2:04.882 (61)
16.    Yamaha Tester (Yamaha) 2:05.024 (47)
17.    Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda) 2:05.098 (73)
18.    Yamaha Tester (Yamaha) 2:05.140 (44)
19.    Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati) 2:05.270 (45)

WROOOM Kickstarts with MotoGP presentationTeam Rider Presentation Tuesday 13th

The  Wrooom - MotoGP Press Ski Meeting 2009 got underway in the best manner possible on Monday 12th January with a welcome cocktail party for the world’s media at the Hotel Spinale, before the focus turned to both work and play in the opening Wrooom press conference at Madonna di Campiglio this morning. Both Casey Stoner and his new team-mate Nicky Hayden, making his official debut in Ducati MotoGP Team colours, were under the spotlight before spending a relaxing afternoon on the stunning slopes of the Italian Dolomites.

There were plenty of talking points for the media, who have flocked from all corners of the globe, not least in seeing an American rider in the Italian factory’s Grand Prix uniform for the very first time.

Nicky Hayden

“On Sunday I tried on my Ducati leathers for the first time in an official photo session and I felt very proud,” said the former World Champion from Owensboro, Kentucky. “I know what a huge opportunity I’ve been given and I’m very grateful to Ducati, MotoGP and everybody who has shown faith in me in this new chapter of my career. I was immediately struck by the dedication and passion that the team is famous for and by how hard everybody is trying to make me feel comfortable in these new surroundings, as they have done helping me adapt to the bike and get the most out of it.

So far everything has gone really well. Obviously I need to get faster in order to be truly competitive but I already love the bike. I can’t say it’s easy to ride, it gets pretty loose on corner exit sometimes but the engine is powerful and that is important, especially in a race situation. The chassis is nice and stiff so you get plenty of feedback and I like the feeling with the front, which is really stable in the fast corners.

So far we have only had two test sessions at Valencia and Jerez, which are tight and twisty tracks, and I think that at places like Malaysia and Qatar it will be even better. I’m happy to be working with Casey – we’ve known each other for a few years now, you could say we’ve got similar backgrounds having not come up through European competition and having started out racing in dirt-track. We’re both competitive and we’re going to want to beat one another but we’ll also work together to make a strong team.

As far as my expectations for the season are concerned, I still have a lot of faith in myself and in what I’m capable of. The first objective is to get back to the same level I was at in 2006, challenging consistently for the podium and trying to start winning races again.”

Casey Stoner

“I’m reasonably happy”, answered Stoner when questioned about the recovery of his left wrist, which was operated on late last year. “I would like to have a little more movement but the check-up went well yesterday, the bone graft has healed well and that is very positive. It means I can start to work my hand and arm a little harder now and start to recover some muscle mass and get in the best possible shape for the next test. So far I’ve only ridden the GP9 twice, at Barcelona during the season and for a day at Valencia in November. It wasn’t much but it was enough to understand that we’re not a long way off and that the new chassis is an improvement. We need to work on improving the set-up and refining a couple of areas on the bike. Last year we were perhaps a little too confident and overlooked some of the work we needed to do, leading to a few highs and lows at the start of the season that end up costing us dear. In any case, despite a breakdown and two crashes we still won six races and finished second in the championship, which means we can look forward to next year really positively. I’m really happy with the addition of Nicky to the team. He has always been kind to me, even when I was racing in the smaller classes, and I think we can work well together. The communication between us is great and I think we can work together on fixing certain situations and getting the most out of the GP9 so that we can both be competitive. From my side I also plan to be a little more aggressive this season and maybe be a bit more decisive in races where nobody seems to want to take the initiative.”

The event programme continues tomorrow with a press conference with Claudio Domenicali and the official unveiling of the new Desmosedici GP9.

Wroom 1January 18

Madonna di Campiglio (Trento) - On Monday Jan 12th will start Wrooom – MotoGP Press Ski Meeting 2009  the traditional annual event held in the breathtaking scenery of Madonna di Campiglio, in the Trento Dolomites, where the Ducati MotoGP Team kicks off the racing season by presenting their 2009 programme.

During the course of the week, the International media will have the opportunity of enjoying the spectacular scenery and events while blending in with the Team and its riders.

On Tuesday January 13th the 2008 Vice-World Champion Casey Stoner will be holding a press conference together with his new American team-mate Nicky Hayden wearing the official Ducati MotoGP Team gear for the first time.

On Wednesday January 14th Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Corse CEO and Ducati Motor Holding Product Director will also be holding a press conference, revealing the technical details of the new Desmosedici GP9.

Wrooom 2009, which also includes F1 Scuderia Ferrari events, will end on Friday 16th January.

MotoGP testing calendar concludes for 2008 at Jerez de la FronteraThursday Nov 27 2008, Jerez de la Frontera, (Spain)

The Ducati MotoGP Team completed their final test of 2008 today with Nicky Hayden fifth fastest at the end of a day that saw a particularly late start to the action on track. Despite slightly warmer temperatures than Wednesday, overnight rain made for a damp track surface until the early afternoon.

Hayden took to the track shortly before 2pm and, like yesterday, he steadily improved his pace with each outing. The American worked calmly and methodically despite the limited time available as he continued to get comfortable with the Ducati and Bridgestone tyres. Both the rider and the team were satisfied with his progress.

The next on-track appointment for the Ducati Marlboro Team is a three-day test from 5th-7th February 2009 at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia.

Nicky Hayden -  5th fastest - 1'40.486 (70 laps)

"We've made a big improvement today. It was important to have back-to-back days with similar conditions because at Valencia we only had one dry day and we weren't able to check that the changes we made to the bike overnight had worked. Today my feeling with the bike was much better from the first run and it is important that we've taken over a second and a half off my best time from yesterday. We are still a second off the top guys and I know the last second is the most difficult to find but at the same time we're less than a tenth off third fastest and the team is working well, I feel more and more comfortable with the bike and tyres and I can head home with a clear mind. I was pleased that Casey wanted to be here at the test. It has been useful to speak with him and Filippo (Preziosi) and it shows how tight the team is and how well everybody wants to do next season! I just want to finish by saying 'Happy Thanksgiving' to everybody in America!"

Jerez Circuit Record: Dani Pedrosa (Honda - 2008) 1'40.116
Jerez Pole Record: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha - 2008), 1'38.189
 
Unofficial lap times, Thursday 27th November

1.    Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:39.429
2.    Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1:39.447
3.    Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:40.426
4.    Toni Elias (Honda) 1:40.448
5.    Alex De Angelis (Honda) 1:40.486
       Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1:40.486
7.    Mika Kallio (Ducati) 1:40.564
8.    Colin Edwards(Yamaha) 1:40.604
9.    Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 1:40.856
10.   Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1:40.966
11.   Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 1:41.077
12.   James Toseland (Yamaha) 1:41.740
13.   Vitto Guareschi (Ducati) 1:42.906
14.   Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 1:42.918

Ducati motoGP team kick off final test of 2008 at JerezWednesday Nov 26 2008, Jerez de la Frontera, (Spain)

The Ducati MotoGP Team began their final MotoGP test session of the year today, ahead of the testing ban that gets underway on 1st December 2008 and runs until 20th January 2009. Recent Ducati signing Nicky Hayden lapped alongside factory test rider Vittoriano Guareschi, with team-mate Casey Stoner watching from pit wall.

The Australian, who has stayed in Europe for the first phase of his recovery from an operation on his left wrist on the 30th October, was keen to link up with the team at the test, albeit as a spectator. An x-ray on the joint carried out in Modena yesterday was positive and Stoner will be able to start light training in around two weeks' time.

Despite bright sunshine in the south of Spain, low track temperatures prevented the riders from taking to the track until lunchtime today. Hayden was still able to rack up 69 laps, improving his feeling with the bike on each outing and ending the day as the 10th fastest rider on track.

Nicky Hayden - 10th fastest - 1'42.098 (69 laps)

"It has been nice to get back on the bike and get on with the job in decent conditions. The new surface is perfect, the bumps have disappeared and the grip improved with every lap. They've done a great job here at Jerez. I'm quite happy with my feeling with the bike. The lap times came down with virtually every outing and that's positive, even though I'm still clearly a good way off the pace. We've got a lot of work ahead but the team is really close and we know that bike has the potential, so all we can do is keep working. Both tyre specs that we tried today worked well, although the softer one was obviously the preferable option in these temperatures. They've got no problem in terms of durability and I'm slowly starting to get used to the feeling the Bridgestones give back. Hopefully the good weather continues tomorrow."

Casey Stoner

"Yesterday the doctors told me that everything is going okay with my wrist, now I must wait and see. With the new cast they did yesterday I will be able to start some training on a pushbike so that is positive. In a few days I'll be heading back to Australia and it will be nice to be home for a while. It was a very strange feeling to be watching today instead of riding. This is probably the longest period I've gone without riding a bike at all since I was three years old! I'll definitely have a lot of motivation to get back on track in February. It is good to watch the bikes on track together with my engineers and then speak about it with Filippo (Preziosi) and Nicky, to share our feelings and see what we can do to improve our machine for next season."
 
Jerez Circuit Record: Dani Pedrosa (Honda - 2008) 1'40.116
Jerez Pole Record: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha - 2008), 1'38.189

Unofficial lap times, Wednesday 26th November

1.    Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1'39.525 (41)
2.    Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1'40.135 (39)
3.    Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1'41.163 (51)
4.    Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1'41.390 (49)
5.    Alex De Angelis (Honda) 1'41.468 (53)
6.    James Toseland (Yamaha) 1'41.539 (50)
7.    Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1'41.655 (48)
8.    Toni Elias (Honda) 1'41.679 (74)
9.    Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 1'42.074 (50)
10.    Nicky Hayden (Ducati)1'42.098 (69)
11.    Mika Kallio (Ducati) 1'42.837 (58)
12.    Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 1'42.943 (40)
13.    Vitto Guareschi (Ducati) 1'43.642 (36)
14.    Yuki Takahashi (Honda) 1'44.360 (64)

Grand Prix, Valencia Ricardo Tormo circuitQualifying, Saturday October 25 2008. Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden battled for pole position throughout this afternoon’s Valencia GP qualifying session, finally ending up third fastest, just two tenths of a second off pole position. The American, who won the 2006 MotoGP World Championship here, will thus start his last race with Repsol Honda from the front row of the grid.

It hasn’t been an easy two days of practice and qualifying at Valencia, but Hayden showed his mettle by topping all three practice sessions, on a soaking track yesterday and in the damp this morning. With more rain clouds looming this afternoon, Hayden’s crew sent him out on his first sets of qualifiers after 20 minutes in case the occasional drizzle turned into rain. His first qualifying run put him fastest, then he improved his time some more, before reverting to race tyres, before a final run on qualifiers which left him just shy of pole. This is Hayden’s third front-row start in the last four races.

Nicky Hayden, 3rd fastest, 1m 31.703s

“We were close but close don’t count, I guess! We shouldn’t be too bummed out though, because we’re on the front row. It was pretty obvious that we really wanted to be on pole, we’ve been fastest all weekend, the bike is working good and the team did a great job when it started sprinkling, getting one bike ready with qualifiers early on. It was quite a tough session, going to qualifiers and then back to race tyres. On my last qualifying run I did a 32.0 on my first lap and I knew it was going to be tough to get into 31s. I really pushed hard, really hung it out, but the bike was just moving around too much to be fast. The best I could do was a 31.7. I definitely pushed as hard as I could, though maybe I should’ve got the tyre a bit hotter on the out lap. It’s always a compromise – sometimes you get it too hot and sometimes you don’t get it hot enough. I didn’t get the lap time I needed, so I’m a little frustrated because it would’ve been cool to give Michelin a pole position for their last MotoGP race. But we’ve got a good bike and a good set-up, so we’ll just try to go for it in the race. I didn’t get to do many laps on race tyres, what with the drizzle and the qualifiers. I’ve only tried a couple of race tyres, so we’ll definitely talk to Michelin and use every bit of morning warm-up to get the information we need to make our tyre choice.”

Qualifying Positions

1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'31.502
2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'31.555
3 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'31.703
4 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1'32.212
5 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1'32.518
6 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1'32.572
7 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'32.594
8 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'32.614
9 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda 1'32.734
10 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1'32.962
11 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team Ducati 1'32.983
12 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1'33.017
13 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team Ducati 1'33.352
14 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 1'33.681
15 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'33.767
16 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'33.848
17 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 1'33.879
18 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1'34.174

Valencia Grand Prix, Valencia Ricardo Tormo circuitFirst day of practice, Friday October 24 2008 - Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden made a perfect start to the 2008 season finale at Valencia today, heading both morning and afternoon practice sessions. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa was a close second quickest, giving the Repsol Honda team a one-two start to the weekend.

Fittingly, for the last race of the wettest GP season in living memory, both of today’s sessions were run in the wet, Hayden showing his mastery of the slippery Valencia circuit on his Michelin-equipped RCV. This morning’s outing was run in heavy rain, conditions improving slightly this afternoon, with less surface water on the track, which allowed Hayden to better his first session time by almost two seconds.

Nicky Hayden, fastest, 1m 45.777s

“It was pretty soggy out there, just rain all day. The bike, the team, everything was on point today, now we’ve just got to keep it rolling, because nobody’s going to remember who was quickest Friday come Sunday night. The bike and tyres and everything worked pretty good straight away today. We’ve been using basically the same rain settings I’ve been using since Sachsenring, they’ve worked at different tracks and they’re working good here, though this track doesn’t have a lot of grip, so to go any faster we need to sweeten it up a bit. I like being fastest and if it means staying wet all weekend then that would be fine for me, but honestly I hope it dries up. It’s going to be a hard weekend, just trying to stay on top, everybody’s pushing hard, but we’re off to a good start and I’m having fun. If it dries up tomorrow we don’t think finding a set-up should be too difficult, because the last couple of races we’ve been using relatively the same settings. The main thing is going to be tyre choice, that’s going to be real tough, because there’s not going to be much dry time, but it’s the same for everybody.”

Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang - Race reportRace day, Sunday October 18 2008 - Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden enjoyed a thrilling battle for the final podium position at tropically hot Sepang this afternoon, finally finishing a close fourth. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa led the first ten laps and came home second.

Hayden fought long and hard for third place, sneaking ahead of rival Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V) on a couple of occasions and crossing the finishing line just three tenths behind the Italian. Today’s result continues a strong run of results from the American, with two podiums from the last four races. Honda machines featured well in today’s race, with four RC212Vs in the top five. Conditions were ultra tough, with ambient temperatures reaching 40 degrees.

Next weekend’s Valencia GP is the 18th and final race of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship.

Nicky Hayden, finished 4th, 6th in World Championship

“We knew it was never going to be easy – all weekend we’ve been sixth and seventh, and with the changeable weather we were never really able to find anything set-up-wise. Then we had a bad warm-up. We tried some stuff overnight and went a bit backwards, so for the race I was quite unsure how it was going to go. We put the bike back to how it was yesterday morning, and it was okay, but I was just missing that little bit. The race honestly went better than I thought I would, it could’ve been uglier. I pushed hard, a couple of times I was able to get in front of Dovi, but he held tough. Man, he don’t give in for nothing. I enjoyed the battle, it was fun battling for the podium after the dudes up front took off early. I tried everything I could, I was pushing the front quite a lot, through Turn Three mainly. Maybe I should have tried something a little more silly on the last lap, that’s always hindsight, but sure I’ll beat myself up tonight, thinking I should have taken some bigger chances, but I was already pushing hard. Congratulations to Dovi on his first podium, he earned it.”

Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang, QualifyingSaturday October 18 2008, Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden had a good shot at pole position this afternoon, ending the tricky wet-and-dry qualifying session a close fourth fastest, just two hundredths of a second off the front row.

Qualifying got underway on a soaking track following a monumental downpour that hit Sepang before lunchtime. Riders started out on rain tyres, then swapped to slicks with about 20 minutes remaining. The session was frantic, with pole position changing constantly and riders trying to pack as many qualifying tyres as they could into the last few minutes when the track was at its driest, with damp patches here and there. Hayden’s final run might have got him on pole. He got the fastest time of the session in the first two splits but then ran out of front grip. There hadn’t been enough time for him to fit a new front qualifier for that final outing.

Tomorrow Hayden goes for his third podium from the last four races. The American finished second in last month’s Indianapolis GP and third in the Australian GP earlier this month.

Nicky Hayden, 4th fastest, 2m 02.192s

“It was quite a wild day. This morning we improved quite a lot, but so did everybody else. It wasn’t spectacular but we definitely made an improvement, at times we were really competitive. This afternoon was pretty gnarly. We started on full wets and the track kept drying and drying. We ended up fourth which isn’t a disaster. At one stage near the end I was 15th, thankfully we didn’t get any big showers then, so I was able to get in a good lap, but I really wanted to be on the front row. I was fastest in T1 and T2 on my last qualifier. But lately I can only get one run out of my qualifying fronts and we didn’t have enough time to change the tyre, because with the big discs we use here it take a while to change. So I did two runs on it and midway round my last lap she was done and I lost some time. I’m a little bit bummed, I haven’t had a pole all year and every year for the last few years I’ve had at least one. The rear Michelin qualifier was amazing, it was ridiculous how much grip it had, even across the wet patches. If we can make a little step in the morning, get the bike turning a little better, I feel like I can be competitive. It’s going to be a long, hard race if I’m going to hang in there.”

Malaysian Grand Prix, SepangFirst day of practice, Friday October 17 2008 - Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden ended an unusual first day of practice ninth fastest at Sepang today. Track conditions were tricky in both sessions, riders dealing with a dusty track surface this morning, when Hayden was sixth quickest, then light rain this afternoon.

At one point during the second session the rain was heavy enough to bring riders into the pits, but during most of the hour only a light drizzle fell, not enough to force riders to switch to treaded tyres but enough to prevent them from fully exploiting their slick tyres. Lap times hardly improved throughout the day, FP2 only a few hundredths faster than FP1 and Hayden just a tenth faster second time out.  The MotoGP pack was impressively close today, considering this is MotoGP longest racetrack with a two minutes-plus lap time, Hayden just eight tenths off the best lap of the day.

Nicky's Comments

“Obviously I don’t like to be down in ninth, but we have made a little bit of progress today. The track was quite dirty this morning, there was a lot of sand around, but it seemed to clean up all right. This afternoon’s session was quite tricky, there was a light rain pretty much the whole session, but it’s so hot here that the rain is pretty much gone before it even touches the ground. The bike feels pretty decent and the tyres seem okay, so I’m confident that we can improve, that’s the plan. It was quite strange this afternoon. If that had been the race it would have been interesting – it was raining pretty heavy at one point, everybody came into the pits at one point. It’s been doing that the last couple of afternoons, so maybe it’ll be like that on Sunday. We haven’t had a half-and-half race for a while, so maybe that would be quite cool. Now my foot’s better I can switch bikes and they’ve got a big wide pit road here, so it might be fun, but I’d better be careful what I wish for.”

Australian Grand Prix, Phillip Island, Race ReportOctober 5, Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden rode to a brilliant podium finish at cool and sunny Phillip Island today, the result moving him up two places in the World Championship points standings to sixth overall with two rounds remaining.

The 2006 World Champion’s third-place result at the fastest track of the year was his second podium in three races, following a brave ride to second in last month’s hurricane-hit Indianapolis Grand Prix. After qualifying third fastest yesterday, the American got a great start to go with race winner Casey Stoner, staying in touch with the Australian during the early stages. During the final few laps Hayden struggled with rear grip and came under pressure from newly crowned World Champion Valentino Rossi, the Italian snatching second place at the start of the very last lap. Hayden tried to counter attack at Honda hairpin but ran wide and had to settle for third. Fittingly for the fastest and greatest racetrack on the MotoGP calendar, the last three World Champions climbed the podium: Stoner, Rossi and Hayden.

Nicky Hayden, finished third, sixth in World Championship

"We got a really good start and I thought was going to lead. Things felt pretty good early on, I went a lot faster in the race than I went all weekend. The bike and everything was working pretty good, so I was able to stay with Casey for a while, I felt comfortable there. Then once he started to pull away I had some issues, I couldn’t keep the corner speed I had early on. I enjoyed the race, it was a lot of fun – riding this track for 27 laps is quite intense, you don’t realise how fast you’re going around here. It was a good battle at the end, Valentino started coming for me, I started to ride a little harder but I ended up going a little slower. I tried to stay wheels in line as best I could and hold him off. But I didn’t get off the last corner great going into the last lap. Coming down the start-finish I saw him on the big TV screen out of the corner of my eye, so I knew it was going to be tough, there wasn’t much I could do, I didn’t have much tyre left. Nonetheless it’s cool to be on the podium, I enjoyed the race. My Michelin guys wanted me to run a harder tyre. I did the sighting lap on that tyre, put back in my original choice for the race. The warm-up was really good, it was nice to get some heat in there. It got a little loose at the end but it was fun. A big thanks to my team and to all my fans for sticking with me.”

Australian Grand Prix, Phillip Island - Qualifying ReportOctober 4 - Repsol Honda Press Release

Nicky Hayden today stormed to his second front-row start in as many weekends, the Repsol Honda rider showing dazzling speed aboard his RC212V around the hugely challenging Phillip Island racetrack.

Hayden was in the fight for pole position throughout this afternoon’s qualifying session, run in cool, breezy conditions. He twice set the pace before ending up third quickest, just 0.091 seconds off the fastest time, and was one of four men to break his own 1m 29.020s outright track record, which he established in 2006, the last year of the 990s. And yet the American was somewhat disappointed to have missed out on pole at one of his favourite tracks, having been fastest in this morning’s final free practice session and in yesterday afternoon’s soaking-wet session. For tomorrow Hayden plans some further fine tuning of machine settings, working to find more traction round a racetrack which involves a lot of speed and a lot of throttle.

Nicky Hayden, 3rd fastest, 1m 28.756s

“The front row is always really important and I’m happy to there, but to be honest I’m a bit disappointed. I’ve had a couple of poles here before, and today another one certainly wasn’t out of the question, there was less than a tenth in it. I would really liked to have been on pole, the season’s on its way out, so it would be nice to have salvaged one of them. But we have been competitive all weekend, fastest this morning and in the rain yesterday, so we’re not too far away. I know the race isn’t going to be easy, we need to sweeten up the bike to see if we can get some more traction, also the rider’s going to have to get it together a little better. The team is doing a great job here, everyone at Repsol Honda is working hard and the Michelin tyres seem to be good. I’ll try to get in there tomorrow and not let these guys get away from me.”

Australian Grand Prix, Phillip Island - Free PracticeOctober 3 - Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden dominated this afternoon’s soaking-wet second practice session at Phillip Island, lapping the high-speed seaside track three quarters of a second faster than his closest rival.

The American has been using his Michelin rain tyres to stunning effect recently, topping last weekend’s rain-hit opening session at Motegi and finishing second in the hurricane-hit Indianapolis GP two weeks earlier. The 2008 MotoGP season is proving to be the wettest in memory, with rain falling at the vast majority of events so far.

In this morning’s opening session, run in dry conditions, Hayden was 11th quickest, working hard to find more traction around this high-speed track.

Nicky's Comment FP1 (dry): 11th fastest, 1m 31.284s. FP2 (wet): fastest, 1m 38.820s

“This morning it wasn’t great to be in eleventh, but this afternoon it was nice to be fastest in the wet and consistently really quick at the end, things were feeling really good. My best rain lap time was only seven seconds slower than my best this morning, and it was real wet, so that’s down to some good Michelin rain tyres. But honestly I could have done with some more dry track time to sort out some problems we had this morning. I was struggling with traction, and without traction here you’re not going anywhere. We have got some things to try with the bike set-up, which we couldn’t try so much in the wet, but hopefully we can use tomorrow. I need to be going faster in the dry, we’ve definitely got some work to do, so we’ll keep pushing and see what the weather does tomorrow. I love this track, I love racing at speed, it’s a great thrill, I just need to find some edge grip. If we can find that I can be fast in the dry too.”

Japanese Grand Prix, Twin Ring Motegi28 September - Repsol Honda press release

Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden rode to a hard-fought fifth-place finish in today’s record-breaking Japanese GP at Motegi. This was the American’s first dry race in more than two months – he missed the Czech and San Marino GPs due to injury and scored a podium last time out at rain-soaked Indianapolis two weeks ago.

The 2006 World Champion started from the front row of the grid after a storming performance in yesterday’s qualifying session. He completed the first lap in third place, but didn’t quite have the pace to go with the leaders. He spent most of the race in fifth place. In the closing laps he was chased hard by a group of four riders but he kept his head to maintain his position. On the grid Hayden wore a hachimaki (Japanese-style bandana), given to him yesterday by a fan. The race was run in cool, cloudy conditions and was watched by 58,000 fans.

Nicky's comment

“I got a pretty good start and was certainly in the mix there for a couple of laps but they just had a little bit more pace everywhere. I tried to make up for it a few times on the brakes, but I just didn’t have the pace. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I had high expectations, I thought maybe we could get in there and find something extra for the race. We rode about as hard as we could and it got harder as the tyres went away. That pack was coming for me, I just tried to not make any mistakes, keep my rhythm and hold them off. I knew there was a couple of guys chasing but I didn’t know there was that many coming for me. The bandana I wore on the grid, some fan gave it to me yesterday. I wore it for qualifying and got on the front row, so I figured, try it again. Congratulations to Valentino [Rossi, who won today’s race to claim his eighth world title]. I know what it takes to win one and it takes a bad dude to win eight of them. Much respect.”

Japanese GP qualifying report27 September

Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden stormed to a front-row start at Motegi this afternoon, signalling his intention to play a leading role in tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The American ended the qualifying session third fastest, just four tenths off pole position, despite having to ride two full-speed laps on his final set of Michelin qualifiers after he had been baulked by a group of slower riders at the start of his final run. A good grid position is vital at Motegi because the first corner is tight and close to the start.

This is Hayden’s third front-row start of the year, after Catalunya and Laguna Seca, Two weeks ago at Indianapolis he recorded his first podium finish of the year with a great ride to second.

Nicky's Comment

“Honda’s home race, we’re on the front row which is nice, now we’ve got to try and get a result. Yesterday the bike didn’t feel good, balance and all. We made some pretty good changes overnight. A lot of the time when you make changes, in theory they should do this or that but a lot of the time it don’t work out like that, but today everything worked like we thought it would, so my guys did some good work. My race pace is decent but not great, we need to improve tomorrow morning if we want to turn it into a result, which is the plan. My first qualifier went good, my second I didn’t really improve, the third one I did improve, then the fourth felt really good. But going into turn three there was a pack of riders, so I just had to shut it down. I went hard enough for the rest of that lap to keep heat in the tyres and then tried to pull the trigger again. Luckily I was able to get two laps out of it, though the last little bit of the second lap the right side started to go. The Michelin qualifiers were really good today, so I just held on to squeeze on to the front row. That’s important here especially because in the past there’s been plenty of carnage at the first turn. We’ll try to improve the bike in morning, try to get away with them, then see what we got.”

Indianapolis Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Race ReportSeptember 14 - Repsol Honda Press Release

Repsol Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden rode a brave race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this afternoon, leading in treacherously wet and windy conditions and finally finishing second. This was Hayden’s first top-three result of the year and he walked to the podium using a walking stick, still suffering from the broken right heel he sustained six weeks ago.

Hayden and his RC212V took the lead on lap two from Andrea Dovizioso and then enjoyed a tense duel with Valentino Rossi, who slipped ahead at half distance. For much of the race the pair were comfortably the fastest two riders on the track, then shortly after half-distance conditions deteriorated. The remnants of Hurricane Ike had been battering the circuit since lunch time, when heavy rain and winds hit the Indiana venue, forcing Race Direction to postpone the 250 race. As the wind and rain increased during the second half of the MotoGP race a massive section of trackside signage came adrift, forcing the race to be red flagged. Race Direction briefly considered restarting the race but finally the result was called.

Nicky's Comment

“Man, it felt really good to be in the lead and I felt quite comfortable. It’s been a long time. I was thinking ‘this only happens in the movies’: your home race, missing the last two and coming back to win. I was able to stay focused but Valentino came past and he had a little more speed, especially in section three. Then when he touched the line onto the back straightaway I was able to make up a little more ground and I thought maybe I was okay. But when it started raining heavy I was in trouble because when it had dried I’d used up a lot of the left side of the tyre, so it got pretty gnarly with all the water. “Sure, you dream about winning your home race, but honestly I shouldn’t be too greedy with how things have been.

I’ll take this second and enjoy it. I’d just like to say a big thanks to my team, all my guys, my friends, my family, everyone who’s stuck with me through tough times. Also, thanks to Indy and everyone for making this race happen. It’s a great feeling to be able to race so close to home, I enjoyed it. “I gave the maximum today, I can’t say I left much on the table and that’s how it’s supposed to be. When they stopped the race it was pretty treacherous. It was the right thing to do. Conditions were really tough, especially with the winds because you’d be on a dry line and all of a sudden it’d blow you onto the wet. When they said we were going to do another eight laps, part of me thought ‘hey, let’s line back up and try again’. But I’m not leading the championship, so I’ve got nothing to worry about. A big thanks to the fans too, we only had to be out in the wet for an hour, they’ve been out there since Thursday.”

Indianapolis Grand Prix, Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayQualifying, Saturday September 13 2008

Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden was in storming form during this afternoon’s sun-blessed Indianapolis qualifying session, battling for pole position and finally ending up fourth fastest to lead the second row, just 0.094 seconds off the front row.

Following yesterday’s all-day downpour, the sun shone at Indy today, though the wind got up as the day went on, heralding the arrival of Hurricane Ike, which is due to reach Indy tomorrow. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are predicted for much of the day.

This morning’s session starting out on a damp track, but this afternoon’s outing was all dry. Hayden set the pace in the early stages, entertaining the crowd with some smokin’ exits from turn 13. Working with his crew he got his RC212V handling well around the brand-new Indy MotoGP track. Hayden is still riding in some pain from the broken right heel he suffered six weeks ago.

The Kentucky Kid is wearing a special home-race helmet here, celebrating his lifelong support for the Indianapolis Colts football team.

Nicky's Comment

“That was nearly the front row but outside on the second row ain’t a bad spot. I feel this is the best race pace I’ve had in a while; a few times when I’ve qualified good this year it’s just been one lap with a qualifier. I enjoyed today, even this morning in the damp. Yesterday in the heavy rain, man, I was hydroplaning everywhere, it wasn’t any fun. I had a lot more fun today, the bike was working a lot better, we made some geometry tweaks to make it feel better and I was able to be more consistent. The bike certainly felt pretty good and the Michelin tyres felt pretty good. For the race it’s surely looking wet. It would be awesome to catch a break and get in a dry race, because I feel this is the best race package I’ve had in a while. If it’s dry we’ve got an idea on tyres. If it’s wet, my set-up yesterday wasn’t working real good. If it’s heavy, heavy rain we need to do something different. It would’ve been nice to be on the front row, we could certainly use a bit of a boost because my guys are working real hard and I’ve got a lot of support here: friends, family and fans. We’ll see what happens tomorrow, try to have a bit of fun, see how it goes. The special helmet paint is for the Indianapolis Colts. When I was a kid I played Pop Warner football and I was a Colt, that was my team. It was me, my little brother and one of my best friends. Colts have always been my favourite team. And the horseshoe, maybe I could do with a bit of good luck!”

Indy - PracticeRepsol Honda Press Release September 12

Relentless rain dominated proceedings at Indy today, with Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden ending the first two sessions eighth fastest.

The rain is perhaps something of a blessing in disguise for the Kentucky Kid, who is riding with a foot injury. The low-grip conditions reduce the amount of physical input riders need to put into the bike through the handlebars and footrests. Hayden is still getting around on crutches to protect the still-healing right heel he broke during a Supermotard ride on August 1.

Riders were allowed an extra 30 minutes this morning to learn their way around the new Indy MotoGP track, Hayden working throughout the day with his crew and his Michelin technicians to get maximum grip around the patchy circuit. The rain got heavier this afternoon, so lap times were mostly slower. During the final ten minutes the downpour increased to the extent that deep puddles were forming around the track, causing aquaplaning.

Nicky's comment

“Man, some serious rain out there this afternoon and this morning. It certainly hasn’t made things easy for anybody. We started both sessions kinda slow. This afternoon I wasn’t feeling so comfortable, then Pete [Benson, Hayden’s crew chief] wanted me to change bikes which was a good idea. The other bike had a little different set-up on it and felt better, so I was able to go faster, even though conditions were getting worse and worse. It’s not been a perfect first day but we’ve got a bit of data and learned a few things, the main thing is there’s so much standing water. I’d say it’s worst through that whole first section – turns one, two and three – and also at turns, seven eight and nine. At the end of the afternoon it got so bad that we shut her down early, we weren’t going to learn anything in those conditions. The first part of the track, with the new surface, is very slippery, like ice. The old surface has really good grip, that’s another big thing: there’s different grip all over the track. The heel is not too bad in the rain, if anything it makes it a little bit easier. I’m confident we can improve tomorrow. I think our tyres are okay, the main thing is finding something for the aquaplaning. They say the weather’s not looking real good for the rest of the weekend – the fans are already suffering, so that’s not cool for them.”

Misano - Current situationAugust 31 - Repsol Honda Press Release

Hayden decided not to race after sitting out the morning warm-up session. The 2006 MotoGP World Champion broke two bones in his right heel when he made a heavy landing during practice for the Los Angeles X Games Supermoto event on August 1. He missed the recent Czech Grand Prix but was determined to ride here, following treatment including bone stimulator, laser and ultrasound therapy. Hayden is currently walking with the aid of crutches or a walking stick to keep pressure off the heel to aid healing. Unfortunately, riding at Misano was only making the still-healing bones worse, with possible consequences for the final five races of the season. This morning Hayden and his team therefore took the tough decision to withdraw from today’s race. He will fly to the US tomorrow to continue treatment and get the foot in the best-possible shape for the Indianapolis Grand Prix on September 12/13/14.

Nicky's comment

“This wasn’t an easy decision. I love to race and the racer in me wanted to race, but in this kind of situation it’s better to listen to the experts. The heel got worse as the weekend went on. I was sixth on Friday morning but I kept working my way backward after that, the more I rode, the more strength I lost in the foot. When I woke up this morning I had a lot of swelling and bruising, there wasn’t any way the foot was going to fit in a boot. The team and I took the decision to try and be smart, to try to let it heal as best it can to get it ready for Indy, which is a huge race for me. I felt I could have salvaged a little something out of today’s race but that was just going to make things worse for Indy and for the rest of the season.”

Misano - qualifying report - Nicky's commentsAugust 30 - result 16th

`Things haven´t gone perfectly smooth here, I´m having a few issues with the front. I was pushing the front quite a lot yesterday, then I crashed and today it's still pushing. When we put in qualifying tyres it just exaggerated the problem, so I´ve been struggling to find a front tyre I like, though the rear seems to be working pretty good here. Obviously I don´t have a very good starting spot and at 28 laps it's going to be a long race. We´re going to try a few more ideas in morning warm-up, try to get a good start and try to salvage some kind of result. The heel is okay, not perfect, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy.´

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.”

Nicky to miss Czech GP!August 12

Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden will miss this weekend’s Czech Grand Prix due to a foot injury sustained during a Supermoto event at the X Games in Los Angeles on August 1. The 2006 MotoGP World Champion injured his right foot when he landed heavily from a jump.
Following the incident Hayden visited eminent orthopaedic surgeon Dr Arthur Ting and sought the opinion of other specialists who finally advised (yesterday afternoon, US time) that he should rest the injury to avoid further complications and return at the San Marino GP at the end of the month. The damage is to the calcaneus, or heel area, of the foot.

Nicky's comment

“The injury is to a weight-bearing part of the foot and the doctors say that using too much pressure on the ‘pegs could very easily give me some big problems,” says Hayden who was riding a Honda CRF450 Supermoto bike and didn’t crash in the incident.
“I went to Dr Ting and got the opinion of other specialists. I’ve done a lot with Ting, he knows the sport very well and he feels it would be quite risky to ride. He and the other specialists say that if I rode this week I might have to fight the injury for the rest of the year.
“As hard a decision as it is and as bad as I feel about it, I think I’m better off staying home doing rehab and physio, then come back fit at Misano and try to finish the season strong. There’s been a lot of guys this year trying to ride less than a hundred per cent and actually making their problems worse.
“I certainly feel bad about it for my team and I apologise. I had the permission of HRC to do the Supermoto thing. I just wanted to do some riding during the break, have some fun and I thought that maybe it’d give me a little spark for the rest of the season, but it backfired on me.”

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

See the pictures

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.”

 

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.”

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.”