The Repsol Honda Team concluded its programme of testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia today with Nicky Hayden recording the fastest overall time of the three-day MotoGP test.
Using Michelin qualifying tyres during his final run on the 2007 RC212V, Hayden made the most of favourable track conditions to post a lap time of 2m 00.592s – a remarkable 1.3s inside the 2m 01.877s Malaysian Grand Prix pole position time set by his Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa in October. The 26-year-old American then swapped to the new 2008 machine and completed a further 63 laps to evaluate engine settings, test race tyre options and gather valuable data for the HRC technicians in preparation for the coming season. Following this positive track time at Sepang, the factory Honda squad now looks forward to a further three-day test at the Jerez circuit in Spain, beginning on November 27, where Hayden will once again be joined in the garage by Pedrosa. The intense 2007 schedule is then finally brought to a close by the winter MotoGP test ban which runs from December 1 2007 until January 20 2008.
Nicky Hayden
Fastest lap: 2m 00.592s – 85 laps
“Overall we’ve had a good final day and it was nice to set the fastest time. We wanted to check a couple of details with the 2007 machine just before we said goodbye to it. The bike really worked well with the Michelin rear qualifying tyre, plus the track has definitely been cleaner at this test than at the race in October and the temperature for that fast lap this morning was a lot better than on the Saturday of the Grand Prix when we qualified – which was about the hottest day of the year here. Today we also worked through a lot of stuff on the new 2008 machine, mainly engine mapping, electronics and tyres before we get to work on the chassis proper in the up-coming tests. We always knew there was hard work ahead starting out with a completely new machine and I’m pleased we’ve been able to get on with it in the last few days. I improved constantly, which I’m pleased about, and we know what we have to do now. The weather was kind to us today and I had a snake-free day which was a bonus! It’s time to go home now and I’m definitely looking forward to the break. I’ve only been at home for four days in the past six weeks and I’ve got my brother Tommy’s wedding coming up, along with Thanksgiving, so it will be nice to get back”.
