Hayden & Aoyama Report on Team Drive M7 Aspar's MotoGP Tire Test After Day 1 in Qatar

07/03/14. MOTOGP TEST QATAR

NICKY HAYDEN AND HIROSHI AOYAMA KICK OFF WITH TOP TEN TIMES IN LOSAIL

DRIVE M7 riders start final preseason test with geometry improvements
 
The final test of the MotoGP preseason began tonight with all riders other than the five present at Phillip Island during the week out on track together in Qatar. Even though the Losail session was scheduled to run from 2pm until 10pm the decision was taken to push things back and the track opened at 4pm, closing at 11pm, given the evening schedule for the Grand Prix. Most teams waited until sunset to begin an evening's work that saw Aleix Espargaró clocking the fastest time ahead of Bradley Smith

At around 6pm the DRIVE M7 Aspar Team's two riders took to the track to kickstart their evening's work, which continued until 11pm and consisted of 48 laps for Nicky Hayden and 55 for Hiroshi Aoyama. Once again their main focus was on chassis set-up, as well as suspension and swingarm adjustments, which all moved forward as planned. Hayden finished the evening with the ninth fastest time, with Aoyama in eleventh.

9^th Nicky Hayden 1.57.574 (48 laps): “It was a pretty positive session, we were able to make small improvements every time we went out on track. The engine we had in came to the end of its life and we had to switch it, so we spent some time with the second bike and had to change a few components across. The feeling with the second bike wasn't as good as we would have hoped but even so I am happy that we have taken some important steps forward. We have to keep working to improve the engine braking and gain some more confidence in corner entry.”

11^th Hiroshi Aoyama 1.58.151 (55 laps): “Today we started out with a similar set-up to Malaysia. For the first few hours the track was pretty dirty but as the evening wore on the conditions improved. We worked hard on the suspension and geometry settings and I am happy because we have gained confidence and stability under braking. Thanks to this I was able to improve my pace. Tomorrow the goal is to get the bike turning better, especially from the middle of the corner to the end.”