Repsol Honda completes Jerez test

From Repsol Honda

JEREZ, SPAIN -- Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa completed a vital two-day test session at Jerez Tuesday, putting both men in positive mood for upcoming races.

Although the sun shone once again, conditions weren’t ideal with strong winds blowing dust and debris onto the circuit. For this reason Pedrosa stopped earlier than usual, at around 3.30pm. Hayden kept going till the end of the day, using qualifying tires for his final, fastest lap of 1:38.940.

“Everything went real smooth," the American said. "We did a lot a work with Michelin, tried to check a few tires’ durability, and I was able to string together a few high 39s on race tires, which we were pretty happy with. We also tuned the bike a little bit, tuned the rider too, worked on a few things, and overall it’s been a real positive day. We’ve got the chassis working good, now we need to work on the engine because we’re coming up to some tracks with big long straightaways.”

Both riders focused on tire testing with Michelin, trying different 16.5-inch rear tyres. World Championship leader Pedrosa also tried wider profile Michelin fronts, which he had been unable to evaluate before due to his preseason testing injury. His fastest lap was 1:40.099.

Pedrosa and Hayden will be back on their Repsol Honda RC212Vs on Friday, April 11 when practice begins for the Portuguese Grand Prix, round 3 of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship.