REPSOL HONDA’S HAYDEN SECOND ON DAY ONE, PEDROSA BATTLES
THE PAIN
Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa completed
today’s first two US GP practice sessions second and
15th fastest aboard their RC212Vs. Double Laguna GP winner
Hayden stormed into second place on his final lap of the day,
while Pedrosa battled bravely with the injuries he sustained
when he crashed while leading last Sunday’s German GP.
Hayden, wearing a special Olympics-themed helmet and leathers
design for his home race, is working hard to close the gap
on current pace-setter Casey Stoner. The American made set-up
changes this afternoon to give him more grip round this rollercoaster
of a Californian racetrack.
Pedrosa fractured his left index finger and the big bone
of his left wrist and sprained his right ankle last weekend.
The tough Spaniard, who is wearing a special Alpinestars glove
on his heavily strapped, injured hand, is obviously in severe
discomfort despite using painkilling therapy.
Laguna is a hugely physically challenging anti-clockwise racetrack
that places exceptional strain on the left hand, wrist and
arm. Pedrosa rode 21 laps this morning and 28 laps this afternoon.
This morning’s session started ten minutes late due
to fog. Conditions this afternoon were warm and sunny, though
the session was briefly red-flagged with 20 minutes to go
after Anthony West crashed. His machine took out a section
of safety air fence which had to be replaced before practice
could continue.
Quotes
MotoGP
Dani Pedrosa >> 15th fastest, 1m 23.707s
“I’m feeling a lot of pain and this race is really
long and tough, so we still need to evaluate if it’s
worth racing. This morning I went out just to see how I felt
on the bike and to see if I could ride. I felt incredible
pain, so we decided to use an anti-pain infiltration for the
second session.
In the afternoon I was two seconds faster, even though I still
felt a lot of pain after doing a short run of laps. This track
is extremely demanding, with many left-handers and a lot of
ups and downs. The downhill sections are particularly difficult
as there’s more pressure on the hands which makes it
even more of a struggle. I can stand the pain from my right
ankle when I’m on the bike, but I have to use a crutch
to walk.”
Nicky Hayden >> 2nd fastest, 1m 22.634s
“It’s been quite a tough day, to be honest. We’ve
been trying to work around a few problems the best we can.
We’re not completely happy with our tyre options this
week, it’s tough saving some for the race, which makes
it a tough weekend.
This is a track I’ve gone well at in the past, but
none of that counts now, I need to do it again. This afternoon
the team’s done a good job, made a few changes to try
and make the tyres work better. At the end I got going a little
bit better but still the gap to Stoner is so far. We’ll
keep working hard and use all the time we’ve got. The
support I’ve got here is unbelievable, man. I just can’t
believe how these fans treat me. We’ll keep working
hard and try and give the fans something so they’re
not headed to the gate with five laps to go!”
Official Results
MotoGP
1. Casey STONER (DUCATI) 1:21.826
2. Nicky HAYDEN (REPSOL HONDA) + 0.808
3. Valentino ROSSI (YAMAHA) + 0.943
4. Alex DE ANGELIS (HONDA) + 0.982
5. Chris VERMEULEN (SUZUKI) + 1.021
15. Dani PEDROSA (REPSOL HONDA) + 1.881
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