Just 17 days after winning the 2006 MotoGP World Championship, Nicky Hayden and the Repsol Honda Team resumed the 2007 preseason testing today in preparation for their title defence. Riding the innovative new Honda RC212V, Hayden continued the development work he began during two days of testing after the last race of the season at Valencia.
The 25-year-old American ace had a productive morning, clocking a best time of 2m 04.60s as he lapped the Malaysian circuit for the first time on the 800cc, V4-engined machine. Torrential rain at 1pm brought testing to a premature halt and track staff worked waist-deep in water attempting to re-open the circuit, but to no avail. The Repsol HondaTeam will return tomorrow ready to build on todays progress.Haydens team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, is not testing here as he remains in Spain following a minor, pre-scheduled operation on his left arm. The 21-year-old Spaniard will return to the saddle of the RC212V at the next test in Jerez which begins in less than two weeks time on November 28.
Nicky Hayden
Lap time: 2m 04.60s 30 dry laps.
‘Today was not as productive as we hoped it would be. We started running and had a small problem with the electronics, but once we changed the mapping it was OK and we were rollin again. But then the rain came and that was it for the day. I hung on, hoping to get in some wet tyre testing, but it didn’t happen because there was just too much water in turn three. Still, we are set up for tomorrow ready to try out a few things based on what we did today. I just hope the next two days are dry.’
