MotoGP news

Hayden shines for Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa completed Friday's first two US GP practice sessions second and 15th fastest aboard their RC212Vs. Double Laguna GP winner Hayden stormed into second place on his final lap of the day, while Pedrosa battled bravely with the injuries he sustained when he crashed while leading last Sunday's German GP.

This morning's session started ten minutes late due to fog. Conditions this afternoon were warm and sunny, though the session was briefly red-flagged with 20 minutes to go after Anthony West crashed. His machine took out a section of safety air fence which had to be replaced before practice could continue. 

"It's been quite a tough day, to be honest," said Hayden. "We've been trying to work around a few problems the best we can. We're not completely happy with our tyre options this week, it's tough saving some for the race, which makes it a tough weekend. This is a track I've gone well at in the past, but none of that counts now, I need to do it again. This afternoon the team's done a good job, made a few changes to try and make the tyres work better. At the end I got going a little bit better but still the gap to Stoner is so far. We'll keep working hard and use all the time we've got. The support I've got here is unbelievable, man. I just can't believe how these fans treat me. We'll keep working hard and try and give the fans something so they're not headed to the gate with five laps to go!"

Dani Pedrosa commented, "I'm feeling a lot of pain and this race is really long and tough, so we still need to evaluate if it's worth racing. This morning I went out just to see how I felt on the bike and to see if I could ride. I felt incredible pain, so we decided to use a anti-pain infiltration for the second session. In the afternoon I was two seconds faster, even though I still felt a lot of pain after doing a short run of laps. This track is extremely demanding, with many left-handers and a lot of ups and downs. The downhill sections are particularly difficult as there's more pressure on the hands which makes it even more of a struggle. I can stand the pain from my right ankle when I'm on the bike, but I have to use a crutch to walk."

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