MotoGP world champion
Nicky Hayden hasn’t had the easiest of starts to his title defence, sitting sixth in the standings after round two of 18.
Here, following on from Repsol Honda team-mate
Dani Pedrosa, the American discusses each of the circuits on the 2007 calendar and the type of challenge they offer on a MotoGP machine as he seeks to return to winning ways...
Losail (Qatar): "I quite like this track. It’s got a couple of banked corners that are fun and there are some long, long right handers which are pretty cool. I’d say my favourite part is the first three corners: two banked corners followed by a fast right-hander. I’ve never seen a track with more run-off for safety. It’s kinda funky too because they don’t have grass, it’s all rocks or Astroturf. And because it’s in the desert the wind blows the sand in and gets the track dirty, so normally on Friday it’s slippery but by Sunday the grip gets better. It’s weird racing there though because there are hardly any spectators."
Jerez (Spain): "Jerez is a circuit I know quite well because we’ve done a lot of winter testing there. It's a circuit where it's hard to find the limit but it is also has one of the best layouts of the championship. The atmosphere during the grand prix is incredible; the Spanish fans see the race as a big party and it’s always impressive to see the grandstands packed with people."
Istanbul (Turkey): "Turkey doesn’t remind me of any other track. It’s got a lot of elevation changes which means you’ve got to get a good suspension set-up - something that’s going to work in the flat corners but also be ok for the uphill and downhill corners too. Probably the favourite part for me is turn 11. It’s the fastest corner on the calendar - fifth gear with the throttle almost wide open. If you like fast corners it doesn’t get a whole lot better than that. The last little bit of the circuit I don’t like much because it’s a bit too tight for MotoGP - first gear and really go-kartish."
