No Comments (0) 1. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1’57.422
2. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1’57.794
3. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1’58.554
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1’58.597
5. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1’58.800
6. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1’58.802
7. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 1’58.821
8. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1’58.857
“It’s been a good few weeks off and so I’m definitely looking forward to getting back into it in Turkey and really getting the summer started.
Istanbul Park is quite a cool track, especially with that fast 5th gear corner. On the 990cc bike that corner was wild, though on these bikes it might not really be a corner any more – it’ll be interesting to see how the 800s feel through there. It’s a really good track and I like the layout because it’s got some serious elevation changes. Turn’s One’s really technical and TV doesn’t really do that corner justice. People at home on the couch don’t really see how blind the entry is and what a drop off there is, so that’s pretty fun.
It’s been a decent track to me in the past and I’m looking forward to racing there again. We’re going to stay positive and keep working hard to get up front. I’ve got a good team behind me and we’re giving it all we’ve got to make the improvements we need to take a step forward.”
Losail (Qatar): “I quite like this track. It’s got a couple of banked corners that are fun and there are some long, long right handers which are pretty cool. I’d say my favourite part is the first three corners: two banked corners followed by a fast right-hander. I’ve never seen a track with more run-off for safety. It’s kinda funky too because they don’t have grass, it’s all rocks or Astroturf. And because it’s in the desert the wind blows the sand in and gets the track dirty, so normally on Friday it’s slippery but by Sunday the grip gets better. It’s weird racing there though because there are hardly any spectators.”
Jerez (Spain): “Jerez is a circuit I know quite well because we’ve done a lot of winter testing there. It’s a circuit where it’s hard to find the limit but it is also has one of the best layouts of the championship. The atmosphere during the grand prix is incredible; the Spanish fans see the race as a big party and it’s always impressive to see the grandstands packed with people.”
Nicky Hayden’s brother Tommy has been trying to help the world champion adapt to riding his 800cc bike after his difficult start to the season.
The American is already 28 points behind Valentino Rossi in the standings after just two races, and his brother, who races in the AMA Superbike series in America, visited him at the post-event test in Spain last week.
“I have to say a big thanks to Tommy for coming over and trying to help me adjust to the new style needed to ride the 800.
To have somebody to talk to about a few things, there’s nobody better than my big brother.”
Hayden also praised his Repsol Honda team, and said that he feels they are completely behind him as he tries to get back to the front of the field.
“I really believe that the team and HRC are behind me. They want results just as bad as me, and we’re going to get things straight.”
The Repsol Honda team stayed in Jerez after the GP of Spain to do some test work. After a very wet first day, Nicky Hayden came out on track for a second day while team mate Dani Pedrosa decided not to test. Hayden put in a total of 72 laps with a fastest time of 1’41.900.
The American worldchampion who did not get the start of the season that he wanted, evaluated a modified chassis and tried out various suspension set-ups in combination with a range of Michelin tyres. Nicky worked through an extensive program of testing. He also decided not to put on qualifying tyres at the end of the day, instead he was riding on race rubber until the checkered flag came out. The feedback and data as a result fromt his test will be analysed by the team. Hopefully the team can make the necessary changes to make the bike perform better.
