Valentino Rossi (left) listens to Nicky Hayden during a press conference yesterday.

NICKY Hayden has had the same guy delivering his rented car for use during the Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix weekend for six years, but this is the end, and a walk down the pitlane will show just how bad the situation is.

Despite the 2006 world champion stating that Honda Racing (HRC) should be working more as a team, the two Repsol Honda riders — Dani Pedrosa and himself — use separate tyres and thus separate data.

Not only that, since the US Grand Prix, a wall splitting the duo’s respective portions of the pit was erected, following Pedrosa’s manager Alberto Puig accusing Hayden of copying data.

Hayden will be riding for the Ducati Marlboro Team next year, joining Australian 2007 world champion Casey Stoner, but it seems not under the best of circumstances.

“I’ve had a long history with Honda. I’ve been with these guys for six years, and each time we’ve come to this circuit it has always been around the same people. Like even my car rental guy who delivers the car for me to use here. It has been the same guy for the past six years. So, it is quite scary,” said the American.
“I don’t want to go back and have a cat-fight with this guy (Puig),” he said of Pedrosa’s manager’s accusations. “Puig basically runs our team, he runs HRC at the moment and I really believe that.

“I believe Kazuhika Yamano (Repsol Honda team manager) has done a great job and he’s in a tough spot. I know he’s got a lot of heat coming at him from all directions, so that’s basically what I said. I need to quit being a hypocrite I guess.”

Nevertheless, after a troubled season last year, Hayden is beginning to bounce back with good finishes, and feels the confidence creeping back, more so after his third place behind Valentino Rossi and Stoner in Australia.

“The podiums are there, but they don’t just give them to you because you deserve it. You’ve got to earn them. But now, the feeling of waking up in the mornings, knowing that you’re in a position to challenge again is just such a good feeling,” said Hayden.

New Straits Times

FERRARI’S disastrous pit stop in Singapore looked to have put a temporary end to the use of a red-green light system to signal when cars can be released.

The premature switch to a green light caused Felipe Massa to trundle down pitlane with the fuel rig and hose still attached, costing him the race. Ferrari have made the decision to revert to the old-fashioned ‘lollipop’ system in Japan, with a crew member raising the round sign on a pole from in front of the drivers’ eyes when they can leave.

However Honda has elected to start trying its own light system in Japan.

“We can see a lot of safety benefits from the system,” Honda team principal Ross Brawn told Autosport.

“But like any system it has got to be very robust and you have got to be very confident in the technology you are using. It is quite a delicate situation.”

New Straits Times

IPOH: Honda owners can now service their cars at the newly opened Tian Siang Auto Care showroom-cum-service centre in Jalan Kuala Kangsar and watch their favourite movies at the same time.

Tian Siang Auto Care managing director Mak Kam Hong said the outlet was the only 3S (sales, service and spare parts) centre in the country equipped with a state-of-the-art entertainment room.

“Customers waiting for more than an hour can choose a DVD from the counter and watch a movie on the plasma TV,” he said after the launch here yesterday.

He said customers could also relax in one of the two lounges and enjoy complimentary beverages.

The 3S centre was opened by state Education, Local Government, Housing and Public Transport Committee chairman, Nga Kor Ming.
Present were Honda Malaysia managing director Atsushi Fujimoto and chief executive officer Azman Idris.

The lounges are equipped with wireless Internet access and a computer for customers who wish to surf the Net.

The centre, said to be the largest Honda sales, service and spare parts centre in the northern region, cost RM7 million. It has 13 service bays and can accommodate up to 60 cars daily.

New Straits Times