Hayden makes steady progress with Desmosedici :: MotoGP.com

MotoGP.com



The 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden continued his adaptation to the Desmosedici GP9 and his new Bridgestone tyres in Sepang, steadily reducing his lap times over the course of the three day test.

The American is determined to use the information gathered in Malaysia to full effect at the next test in Qatar at the beginning of March, having already shown the team his famous dedication to the task.

The timesheet-topping laps registered by his new team-mate and friend Casey Stoner in Seepang have given Hayden the belief that there is a lot more to come from himself and his bike, providing confidence and motivation in this new chapter in his career.

Unshaken by a crash on Saturday, Hayden reflected on the Malaysian visit saying, “We started out on the right foot again today and I managed to knock six tenths of a second off my best lap from yesterday. Then in the early part of the afternoon I had a little crash in turn two, where to be honest they’ve done a bad job of resurfacing the track and it has caught a few riders out this week. Luckily I wasn’t hurt.”

”Obviously I’m not happy with my lap times,” he continued. “I was expecting more from myself, but I have to stay positive. I’ve improved my lap times every day and we have gathered a lot of data to work from in the next test. The fact Casey is already so fast means that the bike has the potential – it can only be a good thing that he is going so quick. The Bridgestones are really consistent and I was able to do my first long run on the Ducati without any tyre life problems.”