MotoGP news

Steady progress for Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden made a steady start to their German GP weekend at the Sachsenring today, the pair completing the first two practice sessions in fifth and eighth positions. 

World Championship leader Pedrosa was fourth this morning but slid off at Turn 12 in the early stages of this afternoon's session, run in muggy 30 degree heat. The Spaniard was unhurt and his RC212V only suffered minor damage but he had to complete the session on his number two bike and was unable to better his morning time. All being well, he should be able to move forward tomorrow. 

"This morning we started out working on set-up and tyre choice, as usual," said Hayden. "I had a good feeling and the tyres were working well with a track temperature of 29 degrees. In the afternoon I crashed at Turn 12, maybe because I braked too late, but the crash was without any real consequence. After that I used my second bike but I couldn't find the same feeling, so I couldn't go as fast as I wanted. Tomorrow we will try to improve our settings and do some longer runs on tyres. We have to see how hot it will be, because the track temperature can get very hot here, this afternoon it was already more than 40 degrees." 

Hayden made some useful improvements to his RC212V in today's second outing and the American believes he can find a good few tenths during tomorrow's final two sessions. 

Nicky Hayden commented, "Today was pretty average, really. I certainly hoped to be nearer the top in both sessions. We made some little improvements this afternoon, got the bike to steer a bit better, and dropped the lap time a bit which helped, but we're still down in eighth. It's a short little lap here, so a couple of tenths is a lot. We've got a couple of ideas to improve tomorrow, but it's not easy to figure out how we're going to get down to where we need to be. We need to find a big chunk from somewhere. In the past I've had some good results here but it's a track where I always struggle a bit on the first day and then pull it together, so let's see if we can't do the same this year. Lap time-wise we're already quite a bit quicker than last year which we have been everywhere, in fact I've already gone faster than I qualified last year."

more news

• 21 Nov.
  • "Valentino would have been an excellent F1 driver"
• 20 Nov.
  • Rossi doing well at Mugello in F2008
• 04 Nov.
  • FIAT extends Yamaha sponsorship
• 28 Oct.
  • Hayden debuts at Ducati
  • Dovizioso enjoys first day at Repsol Honda
• 27 Oct.
  • Photos: Monday in Valencia
  • Stoner fastest on first day of testing
• 26 Oct.
  • Photos: Sunday in Valencia
  • Stoner storms to Spanish win
• 25 Oct.
  • Photos: Saturday in Valencia
  • Stoner steals Valencia pole
  • Hayden stays top in final practice
• 24 Oct.
  • Hayden happy with perfect start
  • Rossi looks for improvement
  • Photos: Friday in Valencia
  • Hayden finished Friday on top
  • Hayden fastest in first practice
  • Gibernau confirmed for 2009
• 23 Oct.
  • West hopes to return to MotoGP one day
• 19 Oct.
  • Stoner steals runner-up spot
  • Rossi celebrates ninth win
  • Photos: Sunday at Sepang
  • Rossi storms to victory
• 18 Oct.
  • Photos: Saturday at Sepang
  • Pedrosa steals last gasp pole
  • West fastest in final practice
• 17 Oct.
  • Photos: Friday at Sepang
  • Rossi looking strong at Sepang
  • Stoner looking for more from tyres
  • Edwards fastest in second practice
  • Yamaha leads first practice in Malaysia
• 13 Oct.
  • Guintoli joins British Superbikes
• 05 Oct.
  • Photos: Sunday at Phillip Island
  • Stoner dominates home Grand Prix
• 04 Oct.
  • Photos: Saturday at Phillip Island
  • Stoner on pole at home Grand Prix
• 03 Oct.
  • Photos: Friday at Phillip Island
• 02 Oct.
  • Elias to replace Nakano at Gresini
• 28 Sep.
  • Photos: Sunday in Motegi
  • Lorenzo misses out on podium

Homepage