Day of adaptation for DRIVE M7 Aspar riders in Valencia

2014-11-07 09:50
Nicky Hayden finishes day 20th and Hiroshi Aoyama 21st. Ayoama will ride with the new Honda RC213V-RS this weekend

Marc Marquez dominated the first two practice sessions of the Valencia GP today, as the reigning champion led the way at the final round of the MotoGP season. At Malaysia he equalled Mick Doohan’s record for most wins (12) in a single season and today already laid the groundwork to try to overtake the Australian on Sunday. Lorenzo, Espargarò and Dovizioso attempted to snatch the best time in the afternoon session, but Marquez was a thousandth of a second faster. Today saw the return of an official Suzuki to MotoGP racing, with rider Randy De Puniet testing the bike. Also assuming a test rider role next year will be Honda DRIVE M7 Aspar rider Hiroshi Aoyama, who today debuted the Honda RC213V-RS.

The DRIVE M7 Aspar riders are experiencing a hectic end to the season. Two weeks ago they had the home GP of their main sponsor in Sepang, and now it is time for the home round of the team itself. Both Nicky Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama have unforgettable memories of the Valencia track, and both can boast title wins there. Hayden took the MotoGP crown in 2006 and Aoyama the 250cc title in 2009. Today was a day of adaptation, after three weeks of relentless racing outside Europe. Hayden concluded the first day in twentieth position and Aoyama in twenty-first. Today was a very special day for the Japanese rider, who yesterday confirmed that next season he will be an official Honda tester and will compete this weekend with the new Honda RC213V-RS.

20th Nicky Hayden 1.33.434 (38 laps): "After three weeks in a row competing nonstop, the week off was good for me. Now I feel like my hand is doing much better, and this circuit is not as hard as others we encountered on the flyaways. The first day did not go as expected, as my goal was to be faster and more competitive. I like this circuit, so tomorrow we will do whatever it takes to improve. We have tried different settings for both bikes, but today we found it hard to turn the bike, especially this morning. Luckily we improved our feeling in the afternoon, but still we must continue to improve. Tonight we will look at the data to see which way is the best way to get better."

21st Hiroshi Aoyama 1.33.436 (41 laps): "Today we had the opportunity to try out a new Honda. Although it is similar to the current one, there are some big differences - especially the power delivery and engine braking. This bike has plenty of power but we still have much to learn about it. Today I lost a lot of time accelerating. It was all was new to me today, so I used this first day to adjust. I hope tomorrow I feel more used to the new bike. We still have to understand all the parameters of this bike and adapt well to ride fast tomorrow. We still need time and experience and also I have to adapt my riding, but the first contact with the new Honda has been great; I liked it a lot."

Source: AsparTeam

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