Repsol Honda duo motivated for return to China

Returning to the scene of their first one-two in 2006, Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden will be eager to be back in action at the Sinopec Great Wall Lubricants Grand Prix of China.

Returning to the scene of their first one-two in 2006, Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden will be eager to be back in action at the Sinopec Great Wall Lubricants Grand Prix of China.

World Champion Hayden is aiming to get back to the kind of consistency that earned him his first title last year, whilst 2006 Rookie of the Year Pedrosa is back in action at the track where he took his maiden MotoGP pole position and victory.

It is no secret that the new 800cc RC212V has been a troublesome beast for Hayden to tame, but the American is still optimistic about the Chinese visit after improving in Turkey.

"I had a pretty decent result in China last year and we certainly need to go there and put in a strong performance this time. China is quite an unusual place: the track and the country are definitely a little bit different to what I'm used to in Kentucky," explained ‘Trick Daddy'.

"My favourite part of the track is probably the long right-hander heading onto the back straight. Even at 200mph that back straight goes for days, before you hit the hardest braking corner on the circuit. Obviously though, long straights are not our strongest point right now so I hope we can make some progress there." "I'm looking forward to getting back to into a routine of races as the season really gets going and hopefully I can go to China, take a step forward and get up front. Although the final result at Turkey wasn't a lot better than the first two races, it was fun to be up there in the mix and battle for the podium spots right in front of me. We've just got to keep moving forward, get a good grid position and fight at the front," he concluded.

Spanish rider Pedrosa failed to complete the first lap in Turkey as a result of a collision with Olivier Jacque´s Kawasaki. Taken to the medical centre, the 21 year-old was examined for any serious injuries, the possibility of which was quickly discarded. He arrives in China sore but motivated.

"I'm looking forward to racing in China because I want to put Turkey behind me as soon as possible," he commented. "I've still got a bit of a stiff neck and some discomfort in my chest, but I'll be ok to begin first practice on Friday. It was a shame about the result in Turkey, but these things can happen when you have a lot of bikes going into a slow corner – it's racing. The Shanghai track has very good grip from the asphalt but it's not my favourite track from a layout point of view – there doesn't seem to be a good balance between the long straights and the slow corners."

"However, of course I have very good memories from my first MotoGP race win there last year. The weather can be very wet here so we'll just have to hope that it stays dry this year. It will be interesting to see how the 800cc feels and performs on this circuit – I think the straights could feel very long! And again we'll have to work well with Michelin to choose the right tyres on Thursday because, like Turkey, we haven't tested here on the 800cc."