"I would like to go with the pneumatic-valve engine," the 2006 world champion replied. "I would like to see them make big progress... I mean, it's the future. I think it's got a lot more potential. I really need to try the new version of the pneumatic engine to see how far away it is."
To complicate matters even more for Honda,
Dani Pedrosa's hand fracture (see separate story) means that HRC will now have even less data available to make the final decision on engine design.
But while Honda is considering putting its pneumatic-valve project on ice, Yamaha appears to be heading in exactly the opposite direction.
"The pneumatic-valve engine is here, but its still under development at the moment," Yamaha Tech 3 rider
James Toseland told
Crash.net at Sepang. "Maybe I'll have it by the first race. It depends how it progresses. It's obviously got to be an advantage and reliable."
Factory star
Valentino Rossi is unsurprisingly leading development of Yamaha's restarted pneumatic-valve project and, despite problems with exactly that type of engine during the second half of last season, the Italian is now said to believe, like Hayden, that it is "the future".
