Former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden didn’t go so far as to say he was sold a pup when discussing the production RCV1000R for this year’s MotoGP series but what has been delivered is not what he was expecting.
The M7 Drive rider had to suffer the ignomy of the bike conking out twice on out-laps during free practice and his team bascially threw a load of parts at it in order to fix the electrical problem as they didn’t seem to know precisely what the fault was.
“I made my decision this year based on what I was told and the information I had on this bike. It’s a new project, it’s going to take time and it is a little different than what I was expecting - I mean you don’t expect a Honda to quit twice on an out-lap and not know what the problem is,” said Hayden, speaking at Qatar.
“One of the bikes has left me stranded on the track a couple of times, both times we had something to try, it is fixed now but we had to change a whole lot of parts at once, crossed their fingers and it ran. It’s production wiring on a MotoGP bike, so I hope we don’t have to use both bikes tomorrow.
“It’s been a struggle and not a smooth weekend, we’ve had some issues that have been holding us back at a track that is not great for me. This afternoon I finally felt a little bit better and started getting a little better feeling.
“I struggled the most in the Esses, it was hard for me last year but I don’t really think it is the bike, I think it is me not getting through there like I should. I’m probably fighting through there when I need to be smooth.”
