Nicky Hayden completed 30 useful laps of Sepang on Monday as the Repsol Honda Team returned to test at the scene of the weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Heavy rain greeted the team in the morning and standing water initially ruled out any useful track time.
As the downpour eased in the afternoon however, conditions improved and the 2006 World Champion took the opportunity to evaluate wet-weather engine settings, traction control adjustments and machine set-up on his factory Honda RC212V. Due to the conditions his team-mate Dani Pedrosa elected not to test today.The Repsol Honda Team will now return to the cooler climes of the European autumn for the final race of the 2007 season – the Grand Prix of Valencia which takes place in two weekends time on Sunday November 4.
Nicky Hayden
Best lap time (wet) : 2m 19.245s – 30 laps
“We certainly raced on the right day here at Sepang because most of today the rain was strong and steady. Then atthe last moment it lightened up enough to get out on track and do some testing in the wet. It was useful because I haven’t exactly been setting the world on fire in the rain this season. We evaluated a few engine setting variations and actually found some adjustments that were well worth our time. We probably could have done with the dry time, but you’ve got to take what you can get. Thanks to the team because I got two bikes pretty filthy here riding in the rain today, so thanks to my guys for sticking around and working hard as always. Hopefully I can give them a good result at Valencia to repay them for all the work they’ve done this year. I’m really looking forward to Valencia because, looking back to yesterday’s race, the ninth place result wasn’t good but my pace and my rhythm was so much better and I’m quite happy about the lap times I was able to run. It gives me some good confidence going into the last race of the year.”
