The subsequent two-day test saw Nicky further improve chassis set-up, although he admitted to some concerns about how the '07 engine will cope with the long Estoril main straight. Repsol Honda will test an updated version of its troubled '08 pneumatic-valve engine after next weekend's race.
"Hopefully we've got things rolling now.
Jerez wasn't bad, good enough to make me look forward to Estoril where we'll be working to keep going forward," said Hayden, who took pole position at Estoril last season. "It's is an old-school track, it's a strange little place, not very wide and kinda odd. It can be a lot of fun or it can be miserable.
"It's got that little bus-stop chicane which is probably the slowest corner in
MotoGP, but I really like the right-hand kink onto the back straightaway, that's pretty fast and cool. And I love the last corner coming onto the front straightaway - when the bike works good and steers through there it can be pretty fun.
"Obviously you want something with some horsepower because the front straightaway goes on for days," he warned. "And you need something to get through the tight, twisty bits. One other thing, there's definitely a lot more right-handers, so you need softer compounds on the left side of the tyres."
Pedrosa and Hayden finished second and fourth in last September's 2007 Portuguese Grand Prix.
