Repsol Honda riders
Dani Pedrosa and
Nicky Hayden held contrasting opinions after their first taste of
MotoGP night riding, during testing at Qatar on Thursday.
Pedrosa, still riding with an injured hand following his January Sepang fracture, was the fastest of the pair in eighth position - but found the experience something of a strain in more ways than one.
"The track seems to be well lit but there are a lot of shadows and it's very tiring on the eyes," said the Spaniard, who was 1.291secs slower than fastest man
Casey Stoner. "I rode on my own throughout most of this evening's session, so I don't yet know how the floodlights will be in a race situation.
"Compared to the last test session in Jerez, my physical condition has improved, I still feel pain when I'm braking and the hand has swollen a bit, but it's better than it was at
Jerez.
"It's been quite a difficult evening, we are struggling with the bike, we haven't found the right set-up, so tomorrow we will continue working to prepare a base set-up for the race weekend here, which is next week," concluded the 2007 MotoGP World Championship runner-up.
2006 world champion Hayden was 0.4secs slower than Pedrosa in twelfth position, but at least had a more enjoyable experience.
"I quite enjoyed myself, it's a little bit different, I thought it was pretty fun," said the American. "We need to get faster but the actual feeling is quite good and it's a pretty cool experience. I haven't ridden with anyone yet to see how that's going to be, but as far as the lines and stuff, it's not really much different from daytime.
"I haven't had any problems with the shadows, just a bit of the glare off some of the lights is a bit strange, but the actual track, the grip, the tyres seem okay, so I think it's good.
"Last year we struggled a lot here so we basically started with our Jerez settings, just checking a few things right now and trying to dial it in," he added.
The second and final night of 2008 pre-season testing starts on Friday.
