Nicky Hayden and the Repsol Honda Team mark the differences in Laguna Seca.
The Kentucky-born rider did not give any options to his rivals setting the fastest time both in the free and in the qualifying session. First pole position for Hayden in MotoGP.
Nicky Hayden continued setting the pace for the MotoGP guys in the second practise session of the US Grand Prix. Local hero of a crowd devoted to the young North American rider, the Repsol Honda Team man did an exceptional job today, having both practice sessions firmly under control.
Nicky kept his position on top of the time sheets in the mornings third free session of the weekend, closely followed by Australian rider Troy Bayliss, who knows the American track well from his time in the Superbike World Championship. Hayden and his team continued with their working plan along the morning session carrying out all the necessary settings on the suspensions and working on the choice of the race tyres. While Bayliss suffered a crash in the morning and Melandri ended up again on the tarmac after the crash suffered yesterday, the Repsol Honda Team rider kept his leading position in the standings almost throughout the whole free session.
Things didnt change much in the afternoon, during the decisive qualifying session. It was almost a remake of what had happened in the morning: Hayden took the lead right at the beginning of the session and didnt move until the end. With fifteen minutes left to the end of the session, the Repsol rider had already a comfortable advantage of more than one second over the second fastest. Valentino Rossi reacted in the final instants, moving up from fifth to second, but three tenths behind Hayden.
Third man on the front row of the grid will be Brazilian rider Alex Barros. Max Biaggi, third fastest on Friday, did not manage to defend the position today, setting the seventh fastest time both in the mornings free session and in the afternoons qualifying. Set-up problems in the rear suspension of his Honda were the reason for the Roman rider not being able to improve the times he had set yesterday. Despite his position on the third row, Biaggi shows himself optimistic for tomorrows race.
Rider´s comments:
Nicky Hayden
Third free practice 1st, 123.718, 30 laps
First qualifying practice 1st, 122.670, 35 laps
Its a great feeling after all these years to be first when it counts. The weekend just keeps getting better and better I just hope it keeps going in that direction because tomorrow is when it really counts. Its great to give all my people something to cheer about. The whole team has done a great job the bike feels so good. We used some great Michelins and Im just so happy. Im not really worried about the race tomorrow I just want to enjoy it.
Max Biaggi
Third free practice 7th, 1’24.194, 33 laps
First qualifying practice 7th, 1’23.596, 35 laps
Starting with the seventh best time, from the third row, surely disappoint me and my Team. After the good job done yesterday and this morning, during the free practice, we were expecting to do much better, and we could. The change we made to the rear suspension this afternoon didnt give the result we were looking for and on the other hand made us even slower. We need to go back to the precedent step. We still have chances to make a good race, but the starting will be very important.
