Nicky Hayden - Chasin' a Dream

Nicky Hayden: A loose handlebar at that speed is scary!

Sandra — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 20:09:04 +0000

“When you start from 13th you are always going to have a lot of work to do but that was the best bike I’ve had underneath me all season so I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the team for that, they have worked so hard.

I got a great start and was able to lead the second group for a while until a couple of guys came past and I lost my rhythm a bit. I made a little mistake under braking on the back straight, ran wide and lost a lot of time but I fought back and got in with the group again. I was having great fun but unfortunately the left handlebar came kind of loose about halfway through the race and cost me a lot of time – that’s when a lot of the guys got past me.

I know I’m coming out with a lot of excuses this year but a loose handlebar at that speed is pretty scary! The guys are looking at how it happened. Anyway, man it was a hard battle. I know we were only fighting for fifth or sixth but it felt like there was a title on the line out there!

Big respect to everybody in the group though. Elias made a big mistake but everybody left it all out on the track today and we all shook hands afterwards. It was good to be a part of the battle.”

MotoGP Race Results – GP of Holland

Sandra — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:12:43 +0000

1 Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 42′14.611
2 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 42′19.979
3 Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 42′07.724
4 Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42′43.725
5 Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42′48.216
6 James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42′53.958
7 Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 42′54.154
8 Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42′54.385
9 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 42′54.434
10 Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42′55.284
11 Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 43′00.621
12 Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 43′12.388
13 Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 43′19.977
14 Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 43′24.508
15 Yuki Takahashi JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 43′24.541
16 Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 43′39.710

DNF:
Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team
Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing

Nicky Hayden: Qualifying is not our strong point!

Sandra — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 21:12:42 +0000

“Unfortunately qualifying is not our strong point at the moment but we made some improvements with the bike in free practice this morning. We changed the transmission, which helped a bit, and made a few more tweaks that made the general feeling of the bike a bit better but for the afternoon we tried some stuff that didn’t work so well. We had to go back to what we had this morning and I was only able to go a little bit faster, which is why the qualifying position isn’t great.

The cooler track today made it hard to get heat into the left-hand side of the tyre. You don’t get good balance with the single compound tyres around here, for me at least, the right side is really good but it’s hard to get heat into the left. We’ll see what the weather brings, obviously we could do with it being nice and hot, line up and see what we got!”

MotoGP Results Qualifying Session – GP of Holland

Sandra — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:16:47 +0000

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′36.025
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1′36.110
3. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′36.393
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1′36.633
5. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′36.760
6. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′36.953
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′37.194
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1′37.237
9. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′37.323
10. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1′37.473
11. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′37.637
12. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 1′37.749
13. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1′37.759
14. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1′37.948
15. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′38.136
16. Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 1′38.453
17. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1′38.605
18. Yuki Takahashi JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1′38.619
19. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1′39.407

MotoGP Results Free Practice – GP of Holland

Sandra — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:18:54 +0000

1. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1′37.842
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′37.847
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1′37.877
4. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′38.061
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1′38.092
6. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1′38.194
7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′38.205
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′38.350
9. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′38.379
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′38.429
11. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′38.495
12. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1′38.928
13. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 1′39.464
14. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1′39.597
15. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′39.642
16. Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 1′40.151
17. Yuki Takahashi JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1′40.185
18. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1′41.020
19. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1′41.380

MotoGP Test Catalunya

Sandra — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:34:45 +0000

“It wasn’t the day I had hoped for, seeing the progress we had made over the weekend. In Saturday morning’s practice, when it was a little cooler and the conditions were similar to those of today, I lapped in 1m43.6 while here today I haven’t gone under 1m44 and right from the start I didn’t have the same feeling as I had over the weekend. I don’t know why, also because we worked so hard, but I hope that the data collected is of use to the engineers so we can prepare well for Assen.”

MotoGP Test times, Monday 15th June 2009

1. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1:42.230 (69 laps)
2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:42.434 (58)
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1:42.446 (80)
4. Mika Kallio (Ducati) 1:42.637 (98)

5. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1:42.763 (38)
6. Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) 1:43.188 (83)
7. Randy De Puniet (Honda) 1:43.247 (76)
8. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) 1:43.299 (83)
9. Alex De Angelis (Honda) 1:43.360 (69)
10. Niccolo Canepa (Ducati) 1:43.391 (90)
11. Marco Melandri (Kawasaki) 1:43.506 (89)
12. Toni Elias (Honda) 1:43.708 (60)
13. Sete Gibernau (Ducati) 1:43.819 (45)
14. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1:44.1 (98)
15. Gabor Talmacsi (Honda) 1:45.056 (53)

Circuit Record: Dani Pedrosa (Honda – 2008), 1’42.358 – 166.251 Km/h
Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati – 2008), 1’41.186 – 168.177 Km/h
2009 Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), 1’41.974 – 166.877 Km/h

Nicky Hayden: I was hoping for a little more

Sandra — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 20:32:39 +0000

“I was hoping for a little more than this but realistically at the moment it was the best I could manage.

I started from near the back but kept passing people and made progress throughout the race. I got close to Kallio and tried my best to pass him but made a couple of mistakes and he beat me.

All in all it’s not a spectacular result but it is definitely a step forward. I’ve been close to the front guys all weekend, we’ve worked well and we’ve learnt a lot about the bike. I’m already looking forward to getting back on the bike for the test tomorrow and continuing to work down this path, which we think is the right one.”

MotoGP Race Results – GP of Catalunya

Sandra — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 18:44:33 +0000

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 43′11.897
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 43′11.992
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 43′20.781
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 43′20.833
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43′31.728
6. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 43′34.079
7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43′35.444
8. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 43′37.162
9. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 43′43.694
10. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 43′45.490
11. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43′48.560
12. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 43′48.771
13. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43′51.330
14. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 43′56.685
15. Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 43′58.651
16. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 44′7.770
17. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 44′39.537

DNF:
Yuki Takahashi JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP
Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 15min 45.214

MotoGP Results Qualifying Session – GP of Catalunya

Sandra — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:54:31 +0000

1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′41.974
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1′41.987
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1′42.426
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1′42.594
5. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′43.139
6. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′43.168
7. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1′43.175
8. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1′43.207
9. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1′43.233
10. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 1′43.336
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′43.365
12. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1′43.411
13. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1′43.414
14. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 1′43.422
15. Sete Gibernau SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 1′43.714
16. Yuki Takahashi JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1′43.777
17. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 1′43.792
18. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 1′43.991
19. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 1′45.833

Nicky Hayden: The position is what counts

Sandra — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 11:37:44 +0000

“Today we weren’t quite able to pick up where we left off yesterday but I went half a second quicker this morning – unfortunately it wasn’t enough to close the gap on the guys in front because they improved too. I shaved another couple of tenths off again this afternoon but on my last run I crashed in turn two and that was pretty much that. The position isn’t great but on the other hand with just a couple more tenths I’d have been a lot further up.

I know I’m talking a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ here and at the end of the day the position is what counts and we’re not high enough up. It’s just a shame that on the lap when I’m sure I would have found those extra couple of tenths the rear stepped out in turn one and when I flicked it over into turn two it put me down pretty good. I smacked my left wrist quite hard but I don’t think it’s a big issue and other than that I seem to be okay so we’re looking forward to trying for more tomorrow. ”