The exact specification of RCV with which factory Honda rider
Nicky Hayden will start the 2006
MotoGP season remains unknown, but the American dedicated day two of the current Sepang test to developing the 'new' bike - and was pleased with the progress made.
Hayden is believed to have both an updated version of his 2005 factory RCV and a 'new' 2006 RCV at his disposal - but has appeared to put most of his pre-season attention on the 'old' bike until now.
However, HRC seems to be pushing for the new bike to be raced as soon as possible - and has brought in former 500cc grand prix winner Tady Okada to help Hayden with development of the machine this week in Sepang.
"Today I rode the new bike all day and we made some good progress," said Nicky, who was 13th fastest on Wednesday, 1.1secs from fastest man
Shinya Nakano. "It was the first time we've had chance to spend a lot of time on the chassis and engine and I went quite a lot faster on it than I did last time here so that's positive. It's still a prototype machine and there are a lot of things we still need to try because it's quite a bit different to my other bike. It would have been nice to test the two bikes back to back but I'm sure we'll get a chance tomorrow."
"We are at the first stage with the bike and today we concentrated on the handling," revealed Okada, who made no effort to set a quick time today. "The bike has very good points and is now very good on deceleration. Acceleration is not yet perfect but we are going in the right direction. The machine also holds its line very well."
Hayden's Repsol Honda team-mate
Dani Pedrosa was the top Honda rider today, setting the fifth fastest time after lapping one-second quicker than Hayden.
