Nicky Hayden Half-Second Off Pace at Australia SBK Test

Nicky Hayden Half-Second Off Pace at Australia SBK Test
Honda's Nicky Hayden

Honda WorldSBK Nicky Hayden News

Nicky Hayden Half-Second Off Pace at Australia SBK Test
Honda’s Nicky Hayden

When the final two-day World Superbike test of 2016 wrapped up Tuesday at Phillip Island in Australia, the sole American in the series – Nicky Hayden – finished seventh overall.

The Honda WorldSBK CBR1000RR SP pilot posted a quickest lap of 1:31.558, which was just under a half-second off the top lap set by Kawasaki Racing Team’s Tom Sykes.

During the Phillip Island SBK test, the 34-year-old Kentuckian experimented with electronics, linkages, suspension and geometries of the CBR1000RR. Overall Hayden, the 2006 MotoGP Champion who joined World Superbike full time for 2016, completed 116 laps.

Nicky Hayden says: “The test started really well and I was able to get up to speed quite quickly, despite the different behavior of the tires compared to the ones I used on this track in the past. We made few further adjustments that proved to be positive and the overall feeling wasn’t too bad.

“This afternoon I struggled a lot because of the high temperatures and we tried to make a long run, but it was really too hot; there is definitely some work to do in understanding the bike and the tires in these conditions. It hasn’t been the perfect test for us because of yesterday’s rain and all the red flags today which messed up my rhythm.

“The team has worked amazingly hard, and they all did a great job. Hopefully we can make good use of the next two days to analyze the data and finalize the preparation for the weekend.”

Hayden returns to the Australian circuit Friday for the opening round of 2016 World Superbike.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.