REPSOL Honda's Nicky Hayden showed his outgoing team he's still got what it takes by posting the fastest times in both morning and afternoon practice sessions, at a wet Valencia circuit, earlier today.
The American pipped team-mate Dani Pedrosa to provisional pole, giving the Repsol Honda team a one-two start to the weekend.
This morning's first free practice was run in heavy rain, with conditions improving slightly this afternoon, with less surface water on the track. The improving conditions allowed Hayden to better his first session time by almost two seconds. Nicky said:
“It was pretty soggy out there, just rain all day. The bike, the team, everything was on point today, now we’ve just got to keep it rolling, because nobody’s going to remember who was quickest Friday come Sunday night. The bike and tyres and everything worked pretty good straight away today. We’ve been using basically the same rain settings I’ve been using since Sachsenring, they’ve worked at different tracks and they’re working good here, though this track doesn’t have a lot of grip, so to go any faster we need to sweeten it up a bit. I like being fastest and if it means staying wet all weekend then that would be fine for me, but honestly I hope it dries up. It’s going to be a hard weekend, just trying to stay on top, everybody’s pushing hard, but we’re off to a good start and I’m having fun. If it dries up tomorrow we don’t think finding a set-up should be too difficult, because the last couple of races we’ve been using relatively the same settings. The main thing is going to be tyre choice, that’s going to be real tough, because there’s not going to be much dry time, but it’s the same for everybody.”
Valencia Free Practices
1 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team 1'45.777
2 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 0.087
3 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.182
4 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.293
5 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team + 0.483
6 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 0.745
7 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 1.030
8 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 1.278
9 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha + 1.537
10 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1.706
11 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1.843
12 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 2.238
13 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team + 2.660
14 J. HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team + 2.692
15 A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team + 2.727
16 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 2.994
17 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 3.315
18 T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 6.094
