[wrecked'em]

Nicky Hayden Fastest In Friday Afternoon MotoGP Practice At Laguna Seca
Jul 08, 2005

Copyright 2005, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden came away from the first day of MotoGP practice at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca with the fastest practice time, a 1:24.228 on his Michelin-equipped RC211V.

Camel Honda's Troy Bayliss, who was fastest in the split and extended morning practice session, was second-fastest Friday afternoon with a 1:24.451 on his RC211V. Bayliss walked away from a crash in turn five 39 minutes into the one-hour afternoon practice.

Hayden's teammate Max Biaggi, who has raced at Laguna Seca in the past, jumped up in the standings late with a third-fastest time of 1:24.542 in spite of suffering a mechanical problem with one of his factory RC211Vs during the session.

Marco Melandri, who had crashed after 18 laps of practice Friday morning, returned to action Friday afternoon and posted the eighth-quickest lap.

Blata WCM's Franco Battaini crashed Friday afternoon and was seen limping away from the scene.

MotoGP riders will return to the track for another 60 minutes of practice at 10:00 a.m. local time Saturday.


Friday Afternoon MotoGP Practice Times:

1. Nicky Hayden, Honda, 1:24.228
2. Troy Bayliss, Honda, 1:24.451
3. Max Biaggi, Honda, 1:24.542
4. Alex Barros, Honda, 1:24.564
5. John Hopkins, Suzuki, 1:24.679
6. Colin Edwards, Yamaha, 1:24.696
7. Sete Gibernau, Honda, 1:24.802
8. Marco Melandri, Honda, 1:24.938
9. Carlos Checa, Ducati, 1:25.042
10. Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1:25.098
11. Shinya Nakano, Kawasaki, 1:25.309
12. Kenny Lee Roberts, Suzuki, 1:25.352
13. Makoto Tamada, Honda, 1:25.457
14. Toni Elias, Yamaha, 1:25.574
15. Alex Hofmann, Kawasaki, 1:25.882
16. Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:26.150
17. Ruben Xaus, Yamaha, 1:26.441
18. Roberto Rolfo, Ducati, 1:27.060
19. James Ellison, Blata, 1:27.904
20. Shane Byrne, Proton, 1:28.117
21. Franco Battaini, Blata, 1:30.282


Friday's Combined MotoGP Practice Times:

1. HAYDEN, 1:24.228
2. BAYLISS, 1:24.451
3. BIAGGI, 1:24.542
4. BARROS, 1:24.564
5. HOPKINS, 1:24.679
6. EDWARDS, 1:24.696
7. GIBERNAU, 1:24.802
8. MELANDRI, 1:24.938
9. ROSSI, 1:25.098
10. CHECA, 1:25.042
11. ROBERTS, 1:25.352
12. NAKANO, 1:25.309
13. TAMADA, 1:25.457
14. ELIAS, 1:25.574
15. HOFMANN, 1:25.882
16. CAPIROSSI, 1:26.150
17. XAUS, 1:26.441
18. ROLFO, 1:27.060
19. BYRNE, 1:28.117
20. ELLISON, 1:27.904
21. BATTAINI, 1:30.207

[ND4SPD]

Wow...is Rossi actually struggling? Can't be. He's gotta be sandbagging.

[luvtolean]

That was his first hour at the track, and it seems to me the man is rarely leading after the first practice anyway.

I won't ever count him out.

That said, GO NICKY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[CBRVFR]

How do these times compare to WSB? AMA?

[dB]

The AMA SB practice times from this morning:

1 Mat Mladin American Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:25.981
2 Eric Bostrom Ducati Austin Ducati 999 1:26.218
3 Miguel Duhamel American Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:26.592
4 Jake Zemke American Honda Honda CBR1000RR 1:26.657
5 Ben Spies American Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:26.865
6 Neil Hodgson Ducati Austin Ducati 999 1:27.008
7 Aaron Yates American Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:27.474
8 Josh Hayes Attack Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1:27.882
9 Larry Pegram Hotbodies Honda CBR1000RR 1:28.574
10 Kurtis Roberts Erion Racing Honda CBR1000RR 1:28.629
11 Geoff May M4 EMGO Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:29.339
12 Mike Barnes M4 EMGO Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:29.424
13 Marty Cragill Mat Mladin Motorsports Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:29.825
14 Steve Rapp Jordan Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:29.858
15 Jason Pridmore Jordan Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 1:29.900

A few of the top GP guys are under Bayliss' old WSB lap record (by ~1.5sec), but I'm not exactly sure where the cutoff is.

[ConqSoft]

1:24 doesn't seem so great. I just now did a 1:28 in a souped up '86 Porsche 959.

[jetbdude]

Originally Posted by dB

The AMA SB practice times from this morning:



A few of the top GP guys are under Bayliss' old WSB lap record (by ~1.5sec), but I'm not exactly sure where the cutoff is.

I expected a bigger difference.... with the technology involved and ridder skills

[CBRVFR]

......not to mention the dramatic paintwork..

[CBR929RE]

Originally Posted by ConqSoft

1:24 doesn't seem so great. I just now did a 1:28 in a souped up '86 Porsche 959.

haha nice.

The combined results are a little screwed up, Rossi was moved to 9th ahead of Checa but he should be behind him.

are you kidding? Rossi sandbags it until halfway through the actual race.

[AJONTHECBR]

has anyone noticed that Mladin would be 16th on the motogp grid with that time? Absolutely amazing how fast a "streetbike" can go these days isn't it?

[BigDaddyJ]

Originally Posted by ConqSoft

1:24 doesn't seem so great. I just now did a 1:28 in a souped up '86 Porsche 959.

OT, but would that be on Forza? How is that? Ok back to our regularly scheduled topic.

[IL0veFish]

Remember, Mladin and the AMA guys only get one session on the track, the GP guys are getting multiple sessions. I'd like to see what Mladin's fastest race lap is...

[BDA116]

Hi, my name's Nicky. I'm a no talent ass-clown that doesn't deserve to be in MotoGP. All the other Americans are better and faster than me, and Repsol should just drop me now.
Have a nice day, and try to keep up.
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/Jul/050709c.htm

[dB]

I was looking for an all American front row but a couple pros pulled out some big laps in the last couple minutes.

Edwards put in some fast ones but it looked like a lot of work. It doesn't look good for him over the race distance. But..you never know.

[phobiaphobe]

Hopkins is less than a second off, for what it's worth...

[dB]

A second is a long time. Hopkins is doing really well, though. Makes you wonder what's up with Roberts.

[929_Nupe]

The kid posted a 1:22.67 today

it's gonna be a barn burner