Hayden happy despite late collision with Miller
Repsol Honda Team stand-in Nicky Hayden said that he ‘enjoyed’ his Australian Grand Prix with the factory squad, despite the fact his race ended with a crash on the penultimate lap whilst fighting for seventh.
The 2006 MotoGP World Champion was called up to replace the injured Dani Pedrosa for Phillip Island, the Spaniard having to undergo surgery on a collarbone fracture last weekend following a huge crash at Motegi in FP2. The Australian Grand Prix marked Hayden’s second MotoGP appearance this year and his first in Repsol colours since 2008.
The weekend was a difficult one for the Kentucky-born rider. Friday and Saturday were heavily affected by bad weather, and Hayden had never ridden on Michelin’s wet tyres before practice. Nonetheless, he still managed direct passage into QP2 and put his RC213V a respectable eighth on the grid.
Hayden struggled at the beginning of the race to settle into a consistent pace, but soon found his rhythm and joined in on the fierce battle for seventh. The American felt he had conserved his tyres better than those ahead and reckons he could have won that fight had it not been for contact with Marc VDS’ Jack Miller on the penultimate lap. The Australian went for a late lunge on Hayden at Turn 4 and nudged him off, Hayden unaware Miller was on his inside until it was too late.
He remounted and crossed the line 17th in what could potentially be his last outing in MotoGP, unless Pedrosa has to sit out the Valencia race next month. Nonetheless, Hayden said it was a ‘pleasure’ to ride with the factory Honda team again and is satisfied with the job he did. Hayden now heads off to Qatar for the season finale of the 2016 WorldSBK season, where he will be hoping to finish his rookie year off in style.
“It’s been a very challenging weekend with so many changes of conditions but finally we at least got a few laps in the dry in the warm-up. At the beginning of the race it was a little bit tough to get my rhythm but as it went on I started feeling better and better,” Hayden explained.
“I was in a group fighting for seventh position and I was quite enjoying the battle. Everybody was going back and forth and I felt good. I felt like I had the best tyres left in that group and that I could win that battle… but then in the Honda hairpin, Jack knocked me down. That’s racing. I didn’t actually see him, I just felt him when it was too late to do anything. But that’s racing, especially in a group like that, where it makes a big difference winning the battle and getting seventh or losing it and finishing out the top 10.
“After qualifying seventh on the grid and having not ridden the bike until Friday morning, seventh place would’ve been a very respectable result. Nonetheless, I’ve enjoyed the weekend; it’s been a pleasure to come back on the Repsol Honda Team and ride this bike again. It was awesome and I feel I did a decent job. I just would’ve liked to finish it off with a good result.”