The Repsol Honda rider finished the official MotoGP test satisfied with the improvements on the chassis.

The weather forecast was fortunately wrong today, and in spite of the strong wind on the Spanish track throughout the day, the MotoGP riders were able to enjoy a completely dry track during the last test at Jerez. Now it is time for a few days’ rest before heading for Qatar at the end of this month. Next 28th and 29th of Febuary the last 2008 pre-season tests will be held in preparation for the Qatar GP, with the peculiarity of being run during the night, the first nocturnal race in the history of the World Motorcycling Championship, which starts this year on March 9th.

After achieving the best time on Saturday and taking third place in yesterday’s timed session, Nicky Hayden leaves the Jerez Circuit leading the time sheet. The Repsol rider was the only rider to achieve times below 1?39 over the three days of training, demonstrating the enormous potential of the Michelin qualification tyres. The American has also been working on the development of his RC212V 2008, with new improvements on the chassis. In total he completed 82 laps on the Andalusian track, again the rider to complete the most laps. His best lap was No. 81, with classification tyres. Hayden also ran a race simulation with satisfactory results according to the rider himself.

Nicky Hayden, fastest lap: 1m 38.848s (lap 81 of 82)

“It’s definitely been a really positive and productive three days. We had high hopes coming here because when we tested here in November the bike worked pretty good and Michelin tyres 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. The team really worked hard and made some good moves and good decisions. We didn’t make a lot of big changes, we just got closer to race settings, tried a couple of qualifiers and did a 25 lap run. The chassis seems to be working good and also the tyres are working good. We tried a few different tyre options, and we’re still checking data between the 16 and 16.5 rears. But the show hasn’t started yet, we’ll find out what everybody’s really got and what we’re in for when we get to Qatar but we leave here pretty happy. At the Qatar tests we’ll see how it is under the lights and dial everything in for the first race.”

MotoGP Test Times Jerez

1. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda 1′38.848
2. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1′39.252
3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1′39.313
4. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP 1′39.351
5. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team 1′39.568
6. James Toseland (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha 1′39.727
7. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 1′39.845
8. Alex De Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′39.932
9. Shinya Nakano (JPN) San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′40.333
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′40.442
11. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki 1′40.576
12. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki Racing 1′41.026
13. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice Team 1′41.177
14. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro 1′41.292
15. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice Team 1′41.311
16. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda 1′41.699
17. Niccolò Canepa (ITA) Ducati Test 1′42.160
18. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing 1′42.970
19. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki Racing 1′43.496
20. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team 1′45.597