Repsol Honda Team plays the leading role in Laguna Seca.
Second fastest time for local hero Nicky Hayden; team mate Dani Pedrosa, third in his first visit at the Californian track.
The first practice day of the US Grand Prix was staged today under the splendid California sunshine. It has been a positive first day for both riders of the Repsol Honda Team, though very different. For local hero Nicky Hayden, this day meant his comeback to the venue where he took his first victory in the World Championship last year in front of his fans. In the case of team mate Dani Pedrosa, it had been long ago since the young Repsol rider had to learn a new track. China and Turkey had been tracks that all other riders had to learn as well last year, but this time it was only Pedrosa and a few other riders who had to face this situation, while the rest were able to enjoy the experience gathered last season.
This has been with no doubt a very positive day for both Repsol Honda Team riders. In the morning Nicky Hayden set the eighth fastest time, nine tenths behind the fastest time set by fellow countryman Roberts Junior. Dani Pedrosa, in his first contact with the Californian track- considered the most difficult and delicate of the World Championship calendar – was one second and three tenths behind the fastest time, finishing eleventh. In the afternoon, and after the corresponding work in the pit garages of the respective technical teams, the performance of the Repsol riders improved considerably on the Californian track. Nicky Hayden, a real idol in Laguna Seca, moved up to second, behind Roberts Junior – who was again fastest – only some 2 tenths behind his fellow countryman. And Dani Pedrosa, gave the big surprise jumping up to the third place in the second free practice session, only three tenths behind the fastest time. Despite not knowing the track until today at 10.30 a.m. – start of the first free practice session of the MotoGP class -, Pedrosa surprised everybody with an astonishing and very quick adaptation to Laguna Seca.
Rider´s comments
Nicky Hayden:
‘I haven’t felt as comfortable straight out of the gate as I’d have liked here but finally towards the end of the second session we found a bit of direction and got more comfortable. So I’m not totally happy about how the day went but I’m sure can gas it up a bit tomorrow, have a bit more fun and really be in the mix. The support from the crowd here is awesome and it’s an unbelievable feeling for me to ride here at Laguna. The new pavement isn’t quite as good as I thought it was going to be – it’s a little bit bumpy – but it didn’t seem too bad and it’s safer in some spots which is good. The patches don’t feel great but overall it’s ok, and anyway I can’t change the track but I can brake a little deeper and get on the gas a little earlier. It was really special to meet Bubba Shobert this morning. He was my childhood hero in his dirttrack days and he gave me a replica helmet which is really cool. I’m really honoured to wear his helmet and it looks pretty good, but it’ll look a lot better if I can get it up front on Sunday.’
Dani Pedrosa:
‘The main focus of today was learning the new track and trying to find the secrets of Laguna Seca. It will be difficult to find a good set-up at this track because it’s very bumpy and we have many different types of corners: fast, tight, downhill, uphill. Plus there are corners with banking where there’s a lot of G-force, and corners that are flat, so finding the right compromise is difficult. Tomorrow we have to continue finding the right balance to be as fast as possible. The Corkscrew is special because there’s no other corner like it, but riding it was ok and I had no problems. I didn’t expect to be this high at the end of the day and I’m very happy, but of course everyone will improve a lot tomorrow so I won’t be relaxing just yet.’d a little extra pace in the warm-up and then I’m looking forward to a dogfight tomorrow in the race.’
Standings
- K.Roberts (KR) 1’23.859
- N.Hayden (Honda) 1’24.125
- D.Pedrosa (Honda) 1’24.194
- M.Melandri (Honda) 1’24.223
- C.Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1’24.253
