Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128372
It's Nicky Time in Spain w: th just 12 days to go until the opening qualifying session for the first MotoGP round of the season in jerez, Spain, Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden shot himseif to the top of the list of "favorites" to win that opening round at Jerez when he scorched the 2,74-mile Spanish circuit with a time almost three seconds under the lap record. On the final day of the final preseason test of the year, Hayden lapped Jerez at 1:39,983 on his Honda RC211¥, and with Jerez hosting the Spanish Grand Prix on April 10, the Kentuckian goes into the race brimming with confidence. "This has been a great test for us," Hayden said. "The team has worked really hard, and I've tried my best to do everything they've asked of me. I got my best lap today on a qualifier, but it's important to do that at this stage. In less than two weeks, I'll have to do that for real. I still need to be faster on race setup, and we've identified a problem with the third of the four sections of the circuit here. We need to pUt a bit of work in that area to try and improve for the race in two weeks. "It's great to see the guys in the garage smiling. This is the last day of 26 days of winter testing, and they've done a great Melandri rode his Telef6nica MoviStar Honda to a best of 1:40.291 on the finai day of the test. "This test has been very positive for us. We did a lot of good work over the three days." Melandri said in a team release. "I ran a race simulation and was able to run in 1:415 consistently. Maybe I could have been faster if I had used a set of tires with a softer compound. Michelin gave me some qualifying tires to test, and they were impressive. We have a break before the Gp, but I can't wait for the race." Hopkins and his Suzuki were also impressive at jerez, the Californian taking half a second off his best lap from March 2S (it rained on the second day of the test on March 26) with a lap of I :40.418 on Easter Sunday. Hopkins' effort was over 2 1/2 seconds faster than his qualifying time for the 2004 Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez. It was also faster than the I :40.818 that put Valentino Rossi on pole position for last year's Grand Prix. "This test has been really good for me and the team," the 21-year-old Hopkins said. "I proved that I can go as fast as anybody on race tires, and we have also shown that we were able to step it up in the rain and run in the top places. The biggest achievement for me this weekend was showing that I could "I definitely feel the best I've felt on the machine, and I'm ready to race now." - Nicky Hayden job. My own personal performance at jerez has improved and that's down to the work Honda has put in and the work Michelin has done over the winter. I definitely feel the best I've felt on the machine, and I'm ready to race now. At this level, if you can find that extra little bit from somewhere, it can make all the difference, and I really think we've gone a long way to finding that this weekend," The final day of the three-day test belonged to the MotoGP youngsters, with Hayden leading young Italian Marco Melandri and young Californian john Hopkins on the overall time sheets. ride as fast as any other rider in the wet. I am now looking forward to racing. I can't wait!" Hopkins' teammate Kenny Roberts Jr. ended the test with the 14th-best overall time. Fourth fastest in the three-day test was Gauloises Yamaha's World Champion Valentino Rossi, the Italian lapping at 1:40.S39. "We went quite well until lunchtime," Rossi said. "However, during the afternoon we tried some new things, and they didn't go quite as well as we had hoped. We had some troubles in the braking sections because the bike was quite nervous when the tire was coming to an end. We know we can do better and what we have to improve, so we are not too worried - it's just that there is not quite enough rear grip after I've done a lot of laps. The front is okay because we already fixed this in Barcelona. Anyway, I'm now really happy to finish the testing, and I am feeling okay about the first race. The bike has good potential, and I am looking forward to a good battle this year." The first of the factory Ducatis ended up fifth fastest, with Italian Loris Capirossi lapping at I :40.S5 on the Bridgestone-shod bike. Marco Melandri ended up second fastest, behind Hayden. "I am very satisfied with the qualifying tires - the ones I tested were really excellent," Capirossi said. "Even the front tires go well here at jerez, and the rear race tires are already pretty good. We felt the absence of Carlos [Checa - his injured teammatelover the last three days, and with him, for sure we could have got through a lot more work. However, I gave everything I could - now all we have to do is wait for April 10." Sete Gibernau, on the second Telef6nica MoviStar Honda, ran out of time for a race simulation, preferring to finish chassis and suspension work on his ReV Gibernau won the GP at Jerez last year and left the test seventh fastest, but in a confident mood. "I'm very satisfied with the results of this test; everything went very well for us," Gibernau said. "The work we have done has given us a very good base setup to start the season. We lost most of yesterday to the rain, so it was important to get everything Clear Channel Jammed in Lawsuit, Must Pay $90 Million Clear Channel Communications Inc. must pay Jam Sports $90 million for interfering with jam's efforts to land a deal to promote motorcycle races, a federal jury decided on Monday, March 21, according to an Associated Press report. jurors also ordered the AMA to pay out-of-pocket expenses to jam for breach of conduct, totaling roughly $170,000. jam Productions filed the lawsuit against Clear Channel, claiming that the media and event promotions giant illegally used its 8 APRIL 6,2005 • CYCLE NEWS entertainment industry leverage to hinder jam's attempt to promote AMA 5upercross racing in stadiums across the country. jurors ruled that while Clear Channel did not violate antitrust laws, the company did intentionally interfere with jam's contract and its business relationship with the AMA. They ordered Clear Channel to pay $17 million in lost profits and $73 million in punitive damages, according to AP. "This is an important case in that this jury found that Clear Channel's conduct here was so grossly inappropriate that they awarded punitive damages," jam attorney jeffrey Singer told the Associated Press. Clear Channel said it would appeal the verdict. "We are very disappointed that the jury didn't see this case for what it really was - a disgruntled competitor who couldn't succeed in the marketplace and took his case to the courtroom," the company said in a statement. At issue in the trial, which began on John Hopkins showed that the Suzuki could be a factor in 2005, the Californian ending up third quickest in the test. done today. I didn't have time to run the race simulation that we needed, but I have a good setup and I didn't want to change it just to run a fast lap on qualifying tires." The Camel Honda team also says its ready to race at Jerez. Alex Barros and Troy Bayliss completed their test schedule and both are confident they have found the best possibie base settings for their RC21 IV Hondas. Barros worked on the electronics and just about everything related to the chassis and he ended up sixth fastest. Bayliss ran through a variety of machine settings different from those he used in Friday's dry session to wrap up his preseason after a winter of trying to adapting to his style to suit the RC211 V He finished outside the top-10. "The next time we get out on track will be for the race," Bayliss said. "I honestly can't wait." February 8, was how Clear Channel won its new contract to promote AMA Supercross races. jam's attorneys claimed Clear Channel plotted to intimidate stadium owners and the AMA after learning Jam was set to land the deal. The AMA had already signed a letter of intent with jam in 200 I giving the promoter 90 days of exclusive negotiating rights to finalize a promotion deal. The AMA also issued a press release, announcing that jam had been tabbed to replace Clear Channel as the new promoter of the AMA Supercross Series.