Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden and Kawasaki’s Andrew Pitt are testing today at Suzuka Circuit in Japan.

After picking up his AMA Superbike Championship hardware Saturday, November 23 at the AMA Pro Racing awards banquet in Las Vegas, Nevada, Hayden flew to Japan for a two-day test on the Honda RC211V MotoGP machine November 26 and 27 at Suzuka.

Hayden previously tested the RC211V at Motegi Twin-Ring November 13-14 and has tested at Suzuka on a RC51 Superbike in December of 2000.

Hayden will share the Suzuka track with Australian Pitt and the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR. Pitt will not be joined, however, by countryman and teammate Garry McCoy. According to sources in Europe, McCoy is having surgical hardware removed from the leg he broke during testing prior to the 2002 season.

After the test in Japan, Hayden will fly to Europe where he will ride December 2-3 at Valencia in Spain. There, Hayden will be joined by fellow Honda MotoGP racers Max Biaggi, Daijiro Kato, Tohru Ukawa, Sete Gibernau and 2002 MotoGP Champion Valentino Rossi.

A few days later, Hayden will resume testing at Jerez in Spain before taking a holiday break until late-January.

After the Honda riders leave Valencia, Yamaha’s Olivier Jacque, Carlos Checa, Alex Barros and Marco Melandri will move in for three days of testing December 4-6.