MotoGP news
Hayden keeps Repsol Honda end up
20 July 2008Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden will start Sunday's US GP from the front row of the grid following a stirring charge in the final stages of this afternoon's qualifying session.
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In warm, sunny conditions that followed another misty start to the day, Hayden rode his fastest-ever lap of Laguna Seca, almost 1.2 seconds faster than his 2007 qualifying pace. The American, winner here in 2005 and 2006, will aim for his first podium of the 2008 season to back up his first front-row start since June's Catalan GP.
"Qualifying was difficult, there were many guys crashing," said Hayden. "Qualifying is so important here because it's so hard to pass, so some guys are willing to pay a big price for a good grid position. Our race pace isn't exactly blazing but it's really nice to be on the front row in front of the home crowd, the support is awesome. I know tomorrow's going to be really tough, Casey [Stoner] is on fire right now and we're having a few little issues, but the team's done a good job and I feel like we deserve a good result. Hoping won't get it though, so we'll come in here tomorrow, ride hard and see if we can't pull something out. I'm a little bit nervous. Truth is, the tyres we've got in our allocation are a little out of the range, so the warmer the better for us. We changed the bike a little bit to make the tyres work more and the qualifying tyres were awesome. Actually I felt like I maybe left a couple of tenths in them but I was running about as hard as I could. Hopefully we can put on a good show tomorrow and not less this guy disappear. A podium would be great, but to try to fight with Casey would be a long shot. We never give up, anything can happen when we line up, so we'll come in here, try to have fun, try my hardest and I know I'll have plenty of support. I'm looking forward to it."
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