Rio; Repsol Honda Report
Added on Sunday, July 4th, 2004 by Carole Nash Editor
Rio; Repsol Honda Report
HAYDEN FIRST PODIUM OF 2004 WITH BARROS, A GALLENT FIFTH
Nicky Hayden rode a textbook race today in Rio to secure his first podium of the year finishing behind debut race-winner Makoto Tamada and Max Biaggi to make it a Honda one/two/three. Alex Barros rode a courageous race to take fifth. Hayden had been looking good all weekend and was impressive in race trim in the mornings warm up where the 22-year-old was second fastest behind Gibernau with team mate Barros fractionally slower finishing the 20- minute session third fastest. Hayden made good start from his third front row of the season. At the end of the first lap he was lying in third place as he set about catching pole-man Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and Biaggi over the remaining 21 laps of the race over the bumpy 4.933km circuit on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. On the second lap, Biaggi and Hayden overtook Roberts and it remained this order for just over half the race until Tamada caught and overtook the American. A few laps later Tamada took the lead and it finished in this order with Hayden equalling his best ever MotoGP finish. Barros had been shaking off the effects of his high-speed crash at Assen just over a week ago and although the 33-year-old admitted that he wasn’t 100% fit he felt he comfortable on his Honda RC211V for his 201st premier GP start in front of 55,000 of adoring fans. At the unusually early time of 11.30am the Brazilian made a good start and circulated in third behind Hayden and Biaggi for five of the opening laps before trouble at the front end of his Honda RC211V forced him to drop the pace as he slipped back. His fifth place elevates him one place in the championship to sixth. Joint championship leaders Sete Gibernau (Honda) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) both crashed out of the race without injury allowing the chasing pack to close the gap with seven of the 16 race championship now fought out. Nicky Hayden; Position: 3rd - Best lap: 1′49.799 Alex Barros; Position: 5th - Best lap: 1′50.031
Front: 16.5″ slick Michelin Rear: 16.5″ slick Michelin
“I’m happy. I’ve never got to finish a race from a front row MotoGP start. I definitely wanted a good solid finish today. It’s been a good weekend all the way through - to finish with a strong result is pleasing. The race was a lot of fun. Early I was right there with Max. I saw we were pulling away and I thought we were going to be OK. Then all of a sudden I saw ‘Tamada + zero’ on my board ; he just came from nowhere. Towards the end of the race I had a few big moments and I thought I needed to chill out a bit to get a result. It’s nice to finish on the podium but I’m not here for podiums or front row’s - I want to win races. I defiantly want to go the next level. I’ll take this result and build on it. Tamada did a great job as did my team.”
Front: 16.5″ slick Michelin Rear: 16.5″ slick Michelin
“I’m very, very disappointed. After five laps I have big problems with the front end. The machine felt good in qualifying and in the warm up this morning we were in good shape but then in the race it was a disaster. I almost crashed four of five times. Just like Valentino sand Sete. I was very lucky to stay on two wheels. For the rest of the race I can do nothing. It was very hard to turn the machine; we had to use more angle to turn the machine; more angle equals less grip. The combination makes it very difficult. We need to look at the data with the team and Michelin and move forward. We are nearly half way through the season and still the results don’t come yet. We need to do something to improve our chances. I am sorry for all the fans who give me such support here, and for the team who worked so hard.”
