Honda’s Nicky Hayden is not used to being one of the slower riders on the track. After two multi-day tests at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia with his new MotoGP team, and a few hundred laps around that track, Nicky is still roughly two seconds per lap slower than the Honda MotoGP stars, Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and Daijiro Kato. In the Honda press releases discussing these tests, you can sense Nicky’s frustration at his “slow progress”.
Hayden is not crashing, however, which indicates he is being patient and careful in developing his skills on a new bike at a new circuit. This shows maturity on his part. After all, when do you think Nicky last took roughly three hundred laps around a track and remained two seconds slower than the fastest riders. Probably, never.
Suzuki’s John Hopkins showed similar maturity last year, and he eventually developed very good speed (becoming one of the fastest two-stroke riders in the MotoGP class). Right now, Nicky appears on the same course, with the same philosophy, i.e., don’t crash, stay healthy, and ride as many laps as you can on your new bike and at each new circuit.
