American Honda Moto2 Team Completes Test

Rider Roger Lee Hayden, team manager Kevin Schwantz and the Erion Racing crew went to work on the Honda Moriwaki MD600 race bike to prepare for the Aug. 27-29 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The conditions were really, really hot and very humid but Rogers work ethic shined through and we achieved a lot, says Schwantz. Rogers not afraid of hard work and thats part of the reason we chose him to be on this team. He doesnt shy away from hard work and that showed through as he strung together fast laps in miserably hot and humid conditions. Roger was very fast on the track and even though he had fairly used tires on the bike at the end of the day Thursday, he still managed to put down lap times as fast as hes ever been on this track.

Hayden says working with a former Grand Prix World Champion like Schwantz was a great help.

Working with Kevin Shwantz is great. Its great having someone of his stature watching over and advising me, someone who knows exactly what Im doing as a rider, says Hayden. Sometimes what you think youre doing is very different compared to what you actually are doing on the track and Kevin sees that. Being critiqued by a World Champion like Kevin means I get amazing riding advice, one rider to another. I think this experience is going to make me a better rider not just for this particular project but for my entire career.

The Erion Racing team was able to apply its experience with the Honda CBR600RR to the Moriwaki Moto2 bike.

Our team has so much 600cc experience and this bike is fundamentally a 600cc Honda motorcycle, says Kevin Erion of Erion Racing. There are a few little things about the bike that are different but theyre all in a positive manner. Moriwaki did a great job building the chassis; its easy to work on. Our job now is mainly to get Roger comfortable on it so he can go fast and the Moriwaki platform seems to be working well.

The American Honda Moto2 team will hold another test about a week prior to the Indianapolis Grand Prix to prepare for the race.