Hayden eighth as pneumatic valve engine test looms

Whilst Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa had a dream day in Catalunya, Nicky Hayden was left bewildered once more by a drop in performance at the midway point of the race. This, and the development of the pneumatic valve engine, will be high on the Hayden agenda over the following two days of testing.

Nicky Hayden - Eighth

` We knew the race was going to be tough. Our bike has worked quite well when we had grip but something with the set-up right now we´re not getting the tyre life we need. It was okay in the beginning but I couldn't maintain the pace. Something in the set-up is hurting the tyre life, it's quite frustrating. We were in there early and thought we might be on for a good result and then we lost touch and went backward. The rear brake went out towards the end which didn´t help things. Eighth place is not what we want. We´ve got a really important two days of testing which we need. I'm certainly looking forward to it, hopefully we can get a couple of things sorted out.´