Nicky Hayden: Man, some serious rain out there!

Relentless rain dominated proceedings at Indy today, with Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden ending the first two sessions eighth fastest.

The rain is perhaps something of a blessing in disguise for the Kentucky Kid, who is riding with a foot injury. The low-grip conditions reduce the amount of physical input riders need to put into the bike through the handlebars and footrests. Hayden is still getting around on crutches to protect the still-healing right heel he broke during a Supermotard ride on August 1.

Riders were allowed an extra 30 minutes this morning to learn their way around the new Indy MotoGP track, Hayden working throughout the day with his crew and his Michelin technicians to get maximum grip around the patchy circuit. The rain got heavier this afternoon, so lap times were mostly slower. During the final ten minutes the downpour increased to the extent that deep puddles were forming around the track, causing aquaplaning.

Nicky Hayden, 8th fastest, 1m 53.931s

“Man, some serious rain out there this afternoon and this morning. It certainly hasn’t made things easy for anybody. We started both sessions kinda slow. This afternoon I wasn’t feeling so comfortable, then Pete [Benson, Hayden’s crew chief] wanted me to change bikes which was a good idea. The other bike had a little different set-up on it and felt better, so I was able to go faster, even though conditions were getting worse and worse. It’s not been a perfect first day but we’ve got a bit of data and learned a few things, the main thing is there’s so much standing water. I’d say it’s worst through that whole first section – turns one, two and three – and also at turns, seven eight and nine. At the end of the afternoon it got so bad that we shut her down early, we weren’t going to learn anything in those conditions. The first part of the track, with the new surface, is very slippery, like ice. The old surface has really good grip, that’s another big thing: there’s different grip all over the track. The heel is not too bad in the rain, if anything it makes it a little bit easier. I’m confident we can improve tomorrow. I think our tyres are okay, the main thing is finding something for the aquaplaning. They say the weather’s not looking real good for the rest of the weekend – the fans are already suffering, so that’s not cool for them.”

Kazuhiko Yamano – Team Manager

“Nicky’s heel isn’t so bad here, definitely a bit better than it was at Misano two weeks ago. He has started okay today, learning the track and getting used to these very difficult wet track conditions. Tomorrow he can improve for sure – improve the setting and go faster, depending on the conditions, of course.”