hayden

1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 35.715 secs 2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 35.948 secs 3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1min 36.199 secs

1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 38.189 secs 2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 38.789 secs 3. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Tech 3 (M) 1min 38.954 secs

After struggling to match even the leading satellite Honda riders during the final pre-season test at Qatar, both Pedrosa and Hayden were given last year's model to evaluate during practice for the inaugural night race.

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 42min 36.587 secs 2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 42min 41.910 secs 3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 42min 47.187 secs

Rather than gaining ground with its all-new '08 racer during the off-season, Honda's factory team has found itself in the unexpected situation of working its way back towards the proven 2007 design.

Having finished the Jerez test fastest of all, with a qualifying tyre, Nicky Hayden says Repsol Honda has been 'brought back to reality' after a tough final pre-season outing at Qatar.

On a day when Honda officially confirmed that its pneumatic-valve engine will not be ready for the opening rounds of the 2008 MotoGP season, Nicky Hayden provided the factory with a welcome boast by taking last season's spring-valve design to the top of the Saturday timesheets, with a qual

Valentino Rossi may have failed to better his day one time during testing at Sepang on Wednesday, but the Fiat Yamaha star still kept the number one position by almost half a second.

By Peter McLaren Nicky Hayden still doesn't know which type of engine he'll be using at the 2008 MotoGP season opener, in Qatar on March 9, but suspects it could be last year's spring-valve design.

The 2006 season - when technical problems, accidents, injuries and Nicky Hayden combined to end Valentino Rossi's five-year reign - was seen as something of a freak occurrence which, paddock wisdom assured, would be quickly corrected during 2007.

The 2006 season - when technical problems, accidents, injuries and Nicky Hayden combined to end Valentino Rossi's five-year reign - was seen as something of a freak occurrence which, paddock wisdom assured, would be quickly corrected during 2007.

By Peter McLaren Despite finishing second in the 2007 world championship with Dani Pedrosa, Honda is gambling on an all-new RC212V to try and regain the MotoGP crown - but at present it's slower than last year's bike.

A wet track in the morning delayed the start of testing until midday, when Hayden ventured out to resume engine comparison work he began yesterday aboard the 2007 machine.

After technical problems with the new RC212V on Tuesday afternoon, the hard-working Hayden completed 92 laps of the Valencia circuit on Wednesday - although his best lap, good enough for second behind world champion Casey Stoner, came on the old machine.

The bike is described as an evolution of the 2007 machine - which won the season finale at Valencia on Sunday - but features a new V4 engine with, as rumoured, pneumatic valve springs, plus an all-new chassis and exhaust system.

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 32.348 secs 2. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 33.176 secs 3. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 33.186 secs

Repsol Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa made their debut on the 2008 spec RC212V during Tuesday afternoon at Valencia, at the start of the first post-season test session.

The move was widely expected, although as recently as the Japanese Grand Prix in late September Honda had revealed that it was still discussing a switch to Bridgestone - as used by Ducati's 2007 world champion Casey Stoner - 'at the request of its riders', Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden.

MotoGP title rivals Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi have played down the Italian's 'penalty escape', after overtaking under waved yellow flags during last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Michelin motorsport director Fr?d?ric Henry-Biabaud has stated that the French tyre company's withdraw from Formula One, at the end of the 2006 season, will result in its massive F1 effort being redeployed in other world championships - including MotoGP.

Full MotoGP qualifying times from the US GP at Laguna Seca, round eight of the 2005 world championship.

GSE Ducati, making their racing return to British Superbikes this season using last year factory Ducati's of James Toseland and Regis Laconi, will be able to breathe easy after the recent announcement of their main sponsor for the season.

Nicky Hayden will start his third season in MotoGP in 2005, where he will again ride for the factory Repsol Honda Team, and is aware that the time to turn potential into solid results is fast approaching.

After sitting out the last grand prix in Portugal due to a broken collarbone sustained during training, Nicky Hayden will be back in action for Repsol Honda at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix, at Motegi.