IN
THE
WIND
P28
Bradley Smith ended the day
second to Marquez, the young
Brit lapping at a best of 1:42.174
after a difficult race on Sunday
in which he finished 10
th
despite
a promising start to practice on
Friday.
Movistar Yamaha's Jorge Lo-
renzo ended Monday's test with
the third fastest time.
"I expected to stay more tired
because we had three days of
riding, but I didn't feel it today and
I was able to make a lot of runs
of more than six laps," Lorenzo
said. "We've tried some things to
make the bike more stable on the
throttle and to pick up the bike a
little earlier. We were able to im-
prove it and make quite big steps
so I'm happy as it's not so easy to
find some really important things
in a test. We tried a front tire and
the feeling is a little better, even
if we are just going to use it in
Sepang - it's better for stopping."
HAYDEN'S RETURN A SUCCESS
N
icky Hayden's return
from wrist surgery
went better than the
rider or his team had ex-
pected, with the 2006
World Champion run-
ning the full weekend in
Catalunya and a strong
race that ended with him
12
th
. In the process, he
quashed Leon Camier's
hopes of moving into
MotoGP.
The British former
125cc GP and Super-
bike rider had been
brought in as under-
study, in case Hayden
found it impossible to ride in the
first free practice. Less than two
weeks before he had undergone
keyhole surgery to drain fluid,
clear scar tissue and deal with
arthritis in his oft-injured right
wrist.
Problems struck at Jerez,
were exacerbated two weeks
later when he was knocked off
at Le Mans, and were so severe
at the next round at Mugello that
he was forced to pull out before
the race.
There was even talk that if he
was unable to ride at Catalunya,
the Drive M7 Aspar team might
slot Camier on the bike for the
rest of the year.
No such luck for the English-
man.
"It won't be an easy week-
end," said Hayden after his first
day back on the bike. "But it is a
home race for the team, and we
will try our best. The operation
went better than expected, and
I feel considerably better than at
Mugello. My main problem is my
right hand when braking, but it's
something I already had in mind,
so I'm willing to deal with it."
Michael Scott
Nicky Hayden did better than
expected in Catalunya.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
