A second day of testing at Le Mans proved beneficial for Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa on Tuesday as the Repsol Honda Team took advantage of some dry track time at the scene of Sunday’s Grand Prix of France.
Hayden resumed his intensive work rate, putting in 83 laps of the 4.180km (2.597-mile) Le Mans circuit as he made further adjustments to the chassis set-up of his RC212V. Though still in some discomfort from the torn cartilage between his ribs the World Champion sustained during his high speed fall in Sunday’s race, the tough American able to record a highly respectable lap time of 1m 34.86s Dani Pedrosa and his pit crew also focussed on chassis set-up improvements today to complement Monday’s valuable engine work.
The 21-year-old Spanish rider also ran through a programme of tyre testing for Michelin and set a best lap time of 1m 34.63s from his total of 86 laps.
Dani Pedrosa
Best lap time: 1m 34.63s – 86 laps
‘We spent today testing some tyres for Michelin and generally working on the chassis. I was able to improve my lap time and I think we’ve found some useful information for the upcoming races. The conditions were a little better than yesterday and we could do quite a few laps, although there were times when there were spots of rain on my visor which always makes it difficult to rely on the levels of grip. This was a very useful test for me because I missed the test in Turkey after the crash in the race, so I’m pleased we stayed here for two days. ‘
Nicky Hayden
Best lap time: 1m 34.86s – 83 laps
‘This afternoon the weather cleared up and we caught a few hours of dry track time and were able to improve the pace. Though we didn’t find the big breakthrough we need we basically spent most of the time working on general machine set-up and found some improvements. We’ve collected a lot of data for the team to look through which definitely gives us some ideas of what to work on. It was a pretty positive test and should give us pointers to help us go forward at Mugello. I’d like to say thanks to the medical staff at the mobile clinic for taking care of me over the last couple of days, and the boys in my team for staying here and working hard.’
