Hayden fastest at Jerez

From Repsol Honda

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN -- Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden rode the fastest lap during three busy days of testing at Jerez, the American this afternoon riding a lightning-quick lap on qualifiers, more than half a second inside last year’s Spanish GP pole position.

Teammate Dani Pedrosa used the final day of testing to continue his comeback following his recent hand injury but the Spaniard was hampered by the sometimes treacherously windy conditions. Testing started late this morning following a rain shower, the conditions staying cool and blustery throughout.

2006 MotoGP World Champion Hayden, who was also fastest on day one and third quickest in yesterday’s official qualifying-style shootout session which was run in the wet, left the Spanish circuit in buoyant mood after some productive work on chassis set-up and Michelin tire development.

“It’s definitely been a really positive and productive three days," Hayden said. "We had high hopes coming here because when we tested here in November the bike worked pretty good and Michelin tires normally work good at Jerez, so this is a good track for us, also there’s no big long straightaways. The wind here has made it tough, the conditions haven’t been easy, but I do feel more comfortable on this year’s bike in the wind."

Marlboro Ducati's defending World Champion Casey Stoner was quickest yesterday to win the qualifying style shootout and a BMW car.

Pedrosa – who broke bones in his right hand when he crashed at Sepang, Malaysia, four weeks ago – rode in some pain, icing the injured hand between outings. The three-time World Champion, who didn’t ride in the wet yesterday, worked on his Repsol Honda RC212V to ease the stress on the injury.

The MotoGP paddock now moves to Qatar for the final preseason tests at Losail (Feb. 28-29) where the first race of 2008 takes place under floodlights on the night of March 9.

Combined Practice Times (courtesy Michelin)
1. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC212V) 1:38.848
2. Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat-Yamaha Team), 1:39.252
3. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V) 1:39.313
4. Randy de Puniet (Honda LCR RC212V) 1:39.351
5. Valentino Rossi (Fiat-Yamaha Team) 1:39.568
6. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1) 1:39.629
7. James Toseland (Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1) 1:39.678
8. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici) 1:39.845
9. Alex de Angelis (Honda Gresini RC212V) 1:39.932
10. Shinya Nakano (Honda Gresini RC212V) 1:40.192
11. Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki GSV-R) 1:40.442
12. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki GSV-R) 1:40.576
13. Anthony West (Kawasaki Racing ZX-RR) 1:41.026
14. Sylvain Guintoli (Alice Ducati Desmosedici) 1:41.177
15. Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici) 1:41.292
16. Toni Elias (Alice Ducati Desmosedici) 1:41.311
17. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V) 1:41.352
18. John Hopkins (Kawasaki Racing ZX-RR) 1:41.901
2007 Spanish GP pole position: Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC212V) 1:39.402
Jerez lap record" Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha YZR-M1) 1:40.595 (2005)