Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden had high hopes of a strong final ride with his team at Valencia today after an impressive performance in practice and qualifying. The 2006 MotoGP World Champion topped the first three practice sessions, qualified on the front row and was determined to go out in style, but following a high-speed tumble during morning warm-up he could do no better than fifth.
After two days of on-and-off rainfall, the sun finally shone at Valencia today, with close to 120,000 fans thronging the track’s grandstands. Hayden didn’t get away from the grid as cleanly as he had hoped and ended the first lap in fourth spot. He got up to third for four laps but then slipped to fifth, a position which he then held to the flag.
Hayden, team-mate Dani Pedrosa and their RCVS wore a special one-off livery today that celebrates Repsol’s 40 years of motorsport sponsorship, using the same livery that featured on the company’s first rally cars in 1969. Repsol moved into motorcycle sponsorship two years later with Derbi riders Angel Nieto, who won the 1971 125 World Championship, and Barry Sheene, who took 33rd in that year’s 250 World Championship. Since then Repsol has won an amazing 33 World Championships with Nieto, Sheene, Mick Doohan, Alex Crivillé, Valentino Rossi and Pedrosa. Click here to read more
Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden battled for pole position throughout this afternoon’s Valencia GP qualifying session, finally ending up third fastest, just two tenths of a second off pole position. The American, who won the 2006 MotoGP World Championship here, will thus start his last race with Repsol Honda from the front row of the grid.
It hasn’t been an easy two days of practice and qualifying at Valencia, but Hayden showed his mettle by topping all three practice sessions, on a soaking track yesterday and in the damp this morning. With more rain clouds looming this afternoon, Hayden’s crew sent him out on his first sets of qualifiers after 20 minutes in case the occasional drizzle turned into rain. His first qualifying run put him fastest, then he improved his time some more, before reverting to race tyres, before a final run on qualifiers which left him just shy of pole. This is Hayden’s third front-row start in the last four races.
Nicky Hayden, 3rd fastest, 1′31.703 Click here to read more
Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden made a perfect start to the 2008 season finale at Valencia today, heading both morning and afternoon practice sessions. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa was a close second quickest, giving the Repsol Honda team a one-two start to the weekend.
Fittingly, for the last race of the wettest GP season in living memory, both of today’s sessions were run in the wet, Hayden showing his mastery of the slippery Valencia circuit on his Michelin-equipped RCV. This morning’s outing was run in heavy rain, conditions improving slightly this afternoon, with less surface water on the track, which allowed Hayden to better his first session time by almost two seconds.
Nicky Hayden 1st position 1′45.777 Click here to read more
Repsol Honda RC212V rider Nicky Hayden enjoyed a thrilling battle for the final podium position at tropically hot Sepang this afternoon, finally finishing a close fourth. His team-mate Dani Pedrosa led the first ten laps and came home second.
Hayden fought long and hard for third place, sneaking ahead of rival Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Team Scot Honda RC212V) on a couple of occasions and crossing the finishing line just three tenths behind the Italian. Today’s result continues a strong run of results from the American, with two podiums from the last four races. Honda machines featured well in today’s race, with four RC212Vs in the top five. Conditions were ultra tough, with ambient temperatures reaching 40 degrees.
Next weekend’s Valencia GP is the 18th and final race of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship.
Nicky Hayden, finished 4th, 6th in World Championship Click here to read more
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden had a good shot at pole position this afternoon, ending the tricky wet-and-dry qualifying session a close fourth fastest, just two hundredths of a second off the front row.
Qualifying got underway on a soaking track following a monumental downpour that hit Sepang before lunchtime.
Riders started out on rain tyres, then swapped to slicks with about 20 minutes remaining. The session was frantic, with pole position changing constantly and riders trying to pack as many qualifying tyres as they could into the last few minutes when the track was at its driest, with damp patches here and there. Hayden’s final run might have got him on pole. He got the fastest time of the session in the first two splits but then ran out of front grip. There hadn’t been enough time for him to fit a new front qualifier for that final outing.
Tomorrow Hayden goes for his third podium from the last four races. The American finished second in last month’s Indianapolis GP and third in the Australian GP earlier this month.
Nicky Hayden, 4th fastest, 2′02.192 Click here to read more
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