Tough night for Repsol Honda

From Repsol Honda

DOHA, QATAR -- Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden had a tough first night at Losail International Circuit Friday, ending MotoGP’s first-ever floodlit practice sessions 10th and 13th fastest.

The pair both chose to use the opening two sessions for Sunday’s season-opening Qatar GP to make back-to-back tests with the 2007 RC212V and the 2008 RC212V.

Both Pedrosa and Hayden rode their fastest laps on their 2008 bikes. The 2007 RC212Vs are of the same spec that the riders raced at Valencia last November, when Pedrosa took the ‘triple crown’ of pole position, race victory and lap record.

Pedrosa was lucky to walk away from a high-speed fall at turn 14 during the second session, which started at 10:55 p.m., after making contact with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). The Spaniard is still recovering from the broken right hand he sustained at Sepang in January.

“The two bikes feel different, but it’s still too early to decide which we’re going to race," said Pedrosa, who recorded a 1:56.478. "The accident happened when I was riding behind Rossi. I was catching him and he did something unexpected, so I couldn’t avoid him.

"The accident forced me to stop the session earlier than I’d planned, so I will need to have a long talk with my mechanics tomorrow before we go out again. My right hand and arm are certainly tired after all the riding today but the only problem is that the hand is now very painful again.”

Qatar GP practice continues Saturday night, with racing on Sunday night, all illuminated by Losail’s awesome 5.4 million watt lighting rig.

Hayden's best lap was a 1:57.045.