Nicky Hayden: “I'm looking forward to these three back-to-back races"

Dani Pedrosa lies second in the series 25 points down Nicky Hayden. © Repsol Media Service. Malaysia, Australia and Japan are the next destinations of the 2006 Motorcycling World Championship, that will be facing a dizzy final straight with three consecutive flyaway races in this intense month of September in order to continue moving towards the final point in October on the Iberian Peninsula with the races in Portugal and Valencia, saying good bye to the 2006 season.

With 125 points still at stake, the differences in the overall standings of the MotoGP class among the leading actors of the fight for the world crown are close to nothing, except in the case of the leader. Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden will face this final straight with an advantage of 25 points over the second classified rider, team mate Pedrosa, and 38 over the current World Champion, Italian rider Valentino Rossi. The fourth position in the overall standings is held by Marco Melandri, 40 points behind Hayden, while 10 points behind on fifth is Ducati rider Loris Capirossi. Last year Nicky Hayden managed to take the fourth place in the Malaysian Grand Prix, a race that was won by Loris Capirossi, with Valentino Rossi second and Marco Melandri fifth. Dani Pedrosa, who was racing in the 250cc class crashed on the first lap of the race and didnt manage to score.

Nicky Hayden: “I'm looking forward to these three back-to-back races because it's a fun period of the season. There's a lot of travelling and a lot of work to do but once you get to that side of the world there's a completely different atmosphere. Normally the flyaway races are pretty good to me and we've got to bounce back after the bad luck at Brno. We could have had another good finish there so we need to fight back and get a good result in Malaysia. Sepang is a track we know well from testing and I like it ok - in fact there a few tracks coming up that I like. I'll pretty well approach these races like I have all year. I'll try to be smart and consistent and fight for the best result each weekend. I believe in myself and I've got good guys around me in this team. So I'm looking forward to it and I'm going to try to enjoy it.”

Dani Pedrosa: “We've already tested at Sepang and I've done many laps and this will give us a better starting point for the weekend. It means I will have the feeling for the bike and set-up much quicker than when I go to a new race track. I think Capirossi will be very strong here – it was a good track for him last year – and also Hayden, Rossi and Melandri will be up there. I like the track well enough and the layout combines all types of sections, although I wouldn't say it was one of my favourites. The heat and humidity at Sepang are really high and this is something you have to take into account. It's not really a problem though, because you expect it and can prepare for it. I had a good race at Brno and the championship position is not so bad so I hope I can keep the momentum going here.”
(Repsol Media Service)

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