The Repsol Honda team were hard at work today at the Sepang circuit in preparation for the new MotoGP season which begins at Jerez, Spain on March 26. Heavy rain at 3pm didn't stop the team from making strong progress.
Nicky Hayden spent the day riding the new-spec RC211V, taking over development from Honda's test rider Tady Okada who established base settings on the bike yesterday. 24-year-old Hayden from Kentucky, USA, made good progress, taking chassis and engine settings in the right direction.
Dani Pedrosa continued his rapid MotoGP education, trying some different engine braking settings for the first time. Tomorrow the 20- year-old Spaniard will ride some longer sessions on the bike, weather permitting.

Nicky Hayden 2m 02.93s. Laps completed: 61
“Today I rode the new bike all day and we made some good progress. It was the first time we've had chance to spend a lot of time on the chassis and engine, and I went faster on it than I did last time here so that's positive. It's still a prototype machine and there are a lot of things we still need to try because it's quite a bit different to my other bike. It would have been nice to test the two bikes back to back but I'm sure we'll get a chance tomorrow. When it rained we tested the intermediate tyres for Michelin.”

Dani Pedrosa 2m 01.93s. Laps completed: 50
“Today we did a short job, but it was good quality. The track was good this morning and the lap time was also good. We tried some different settings with the engine braking which was important for me to gain more experience and understand how the bike reacts. This afternoon we were going to do some tyre testing and a longer run, but the rain interrupted us.”

Makoto Tanaka – Repsol Honda Team Manager
“I hoped for good weather today but instead we got a storm at 3pm! With his greater experience, Nicky is leading the development of the new bike and again had many items to test. Because of the rain we couldn't get through everything but I am not worried because we have tomorrow. Dani put in a good time before lunch and continues to learn step-by-step.”

Tags: jerez, spain, start, pedrosa,