Hayden's Mugello
Post-Race Debrief
Transcript: "This One
Was On Me"
Submitted by David Emmett on Tue, 2010-06-08 12:23.
After crashing out during the race at Mugello, a disappointed Nicky Hayden spoke to the press about what happened. Here's the transcript of that debrief:
Q: That looked like a Casey crash.
NH: Yeah, I just, I got a terrible start, it didn't help things at all when I let the clutch out and the bike bogged. You know, from the first corner to the end of the first lap, I recovered a lot of positions. Even the next couple of laps, I felt OK, but then when I got clear track, it was strange, I couldn't really make a lap time. At Le Mans it was the same, I felt like after warmup, I could go a lot faster. Yesterday in the afternoon, I could do mid 1'50s quite steady with the harder tire. But this afternoon, it was just impossible to make the lap time. I was pushing the front a lot more in the race than I had been all weekend, I went back and forth a bit with Melandri, and I just followed over that crest, and … I was a little bit inside, because the lap before, I got in too hot and ran wide. And I just lost the front. It was pretty quick, and I didn't have my knee down enough at that point to try to save it, and that was it.
Q: The track wasn't dirty there was it?
NH: No, no.
Q: How was the bike, was it feeling different in front today compared to the rest of the weekend?
NH: It was folding the front more than it had all weekend. But that was rider error, I crashed on my own. Our Ducati front end isn't that bad, I was pushing and that was it.
Q: Wilco Zeelenberg asked the IRTA meeting that he wanted to change the order of the practice around because the 40-odd Moto2 bikes putting rubber and oil down all over the place is making conditions different on race day.
NH: Man, that sounds crazy to me. I know they told me that on Thursday, and it only seems like it would be better. I mean 40 guys going round a track helps to clean it off. But it does seem strange, I know like today, I expected to go a lot faster than that.
I mean it seems out there, and a little bit in France too, the lap times for me in the race weren't here like they were in practice. Even though I ended up getting fourth.
Q: His point is that during practice you're doing 125s, MotoGP and then Moto2, but on race day, you're doing 125s, Moto2 and MotoGP, it changes the nature of the track.
NH: But it seems like it would only be for the better. More bikes, more rubber, a cleaner surface...
Q: More oil?
NH: These bikes don't really leak oil, they're not [name of manufacturer not currently racing in MotoGP] or nothing. I mean, Honda engines don't leak a lot of oil.
Q: Well there was at least one guy who blew up wasn't there?
NH: Yeah, there was one guy who crashed and picked his bike up [Jules Cluzel] and was riding around smoking. I don't know, it's ..
Q: Track conditions certainly didn't seem to slow Dani down, he was running 1'49.7, 1'49.9s.
NH: I know. Yesterday I was using basically the same setup and I did some 1'49'5s, and actually I had a little electrical problem in qualifying where I could have been faster. My bike on top end wasn't giving the right fuel, and it cost me a couple of tenths in the last half of qualifying. We didn't know about it. I told them in the meeting last night that sixth gear just felt flat, and when they went back and looked at the data, they found something wasn't perfect in there. Not that it was easy, but you know today, I thought sure, I could do a decent time, but I couldn't.
Q: Lorenzo as well couldn't run the same times from yesterday.
NH: Did he say why?
Q: The only thing he mentioned was rear tire, basically, he just couldn't get the power on early enough. Edge grip, it sounded like. Zeelenberg said they hadn't looked yet, so they're not sure. Did you feel it really with rear tire grip, or?
NH: It was more in the front.
Q: Did you say you had a couple of close calls before you went down?
NH: Not close, but I didn't really have a great feel, I felt I was pushing the front more than I had been, only to be going slower.
Q: From Casey's crashes, he's said they've been too quick to catch. Was that the same for you, or were you just pushing too hard?
NH: I was pushing, I mean I'll take this, that one's on me. I don't want to speak for Casey's crashes. It was quite early, where I didn't really have my knee down in the corner. It's downhill, and when it went, it was pretty fast.
Q: Nothing to do with bumps, there's nothing significant there?
NH: No, that's the one corner they repaved! So like I say, we can keep looking for excuses, but really … You know, I mean it sucks to crash out at this race or any race, but still … there's a lot of racing to go so. At least I didn't crash out of last or something. At least I crashed out near the front.
Q: Silverstone next, have you had a look at any track maps or photographs?
NH: Yes, you know I got a track map, and I saved something from the BBC from the last race on my DVR, but I figured I'd watch it after this one, so. But I have seen the track map, and I've seen just now they're working on a simulated gearbox and stuff.
Q: Could be a faster lap time than Phillip Island.
NH: Yeah, great! I mean our bike is fast, and our bike goes good at Phillip Island, so. They do say it's bumpy, I have heard that it's pretty bumpy.
Nicky Hayden is adamant that this year's Ducati GP10 is capable of winning races against Yamaha and Honda.