Honda riders on a high

From Repsol Honda

Repsol Honda RC212V riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden head into next weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix aiming to keep improving following a superb Spanish GP.

Former 125 and 250 World Champion Pedrosa won Jerez in dominant style to lead the MotoGP series for the first time, while 2006 MotoGP champ Hayden took an excellent fourth-place finish after running with the leaders.

Both men spent two further days at Jerez testing components, tires and set up options that should put them in even better shape at Estoril. Pedrosa won the Jerez race using Michelin’s wider profile front tire for the first time and he used the tests to further improve his feeling for the tire, which offers superior corner-entry performance.

Meanwhile Hayden set the fastest lap of the tests while evaluating Michelin rear tires and some new clutch parts for smoother corner entries.

Estoril is a complex and tricky circuit with some dramatic contrasts – the chicane is MotoGP’s slowest corner and the kink onto the back straight is one of the fastest. Riders need a well-balanced machine that is manageable in slower turns and stable in the fast sweepers, with good top speed for the 320km/h main straight and excellent braking stability.

Hayden is the current Estoril lap record holder and also took pole position at last year’s event, in which Pedrosa finished a very close second, just 0.176 seconds off the win. Honda has won five of the eight premier-class GPs staged at the track since 2002.