“Le Mans couldn’t get here soon enough after Jerez because I just want to get back on the bike and get back amongst the team trying to sort out our problems. The French track should be a little bit better for me, the bike is certainly stable under hard braking, acceleration is good and it’s good in a straight line and Le Mans has a lot of that. Having a bit more time in practice and qualifying is going to help everybody and maybe it can help me more than the rest.
Also for Le Mans, we have a bit of new electronic management and team structure that I think should help me and all the Ducati riders. I believe that with Cristhian more freed up from some of the normal work as crew chief he can use his expertise more and focus on really working on the issues I am having with the bike and help give us a better direction and give more info to the factory. So to fill his spot we will bring in Juan (Martnez), who has put up some solid results in MotoGP. He has already worked in Ducati and speaks good English and Italian so he was a good match. Click here to read more
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden finished eighth in today’s rain-affected French GP at Le Mans. The Kentucky Kid’s off-track excursion at the Garage Vert corner dropped him to tenth on lap 14, the American gaining two places as rivals hit problems.
The Repsol Honda Team will test here tomorrow, focusing on chassis settings and tyre testing with Michelin. Hayden will then travel back to the US where next weekend he will ride a demo lap aboard a 2007 RC212V before the start of the huge Indy 500 car race to promote September’s inaugural Indianapolis MotoGP event.
Nicky Hayden
“That wasn’t too pretty. All weekend we’ve been missing something, the pace hasn’t been there. I got a good start and recovered a couple of positions but couldn’t go with the group I needed to go with. I was hanging in there, then I ran off the track in turn six, got in just a little bit hot, didn’t make it and that lost me three positions. I came back on, had a little dice with Loris over the last few laps but it wasn’t the result we wanted. Click here to read more
1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha 25 points
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha 20 points
3. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha 16 points
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda 13 points
5. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki 11 points
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Scot Honda 10 points
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki 9 points
8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda 8 points Click here to read more
Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden put in storming performances during this afternoon’s French qualifying session, Pedrosa taking pole position and Hayden snatching a second-row start.
As ever, the MotoGP pack is tightly packed with Hayden just six tenths off pole and the fastest 12 riders covered by just 1.076 seconds. Hard-working Hayden and his crew have focused on improving corner-entry performance at this tight and complex track. The American moved up to sixth fastest in qualifying but his crew will make further changes overnight in an effort to improve his pace in race trim.
Weather conditions at Le Mans have been very changeable so far this weekend, with this morning’s third practice session getting underway on a damp track and this afternoon’s qualifying outing run in cool and mostly overcast conditions with the occasional sunny spell. There is still a possibility of rain tomorrow.
Nicky Hayden, 6th fastest, 1m 33.286s Click here to read more
1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1′32.647
2. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1′32.774
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1′32.994
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1′33.157
5. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1′33.269
6. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1′33.286
7. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1′33.396
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1′33.440 Click here to read more
Comments (0) 
