Hayden was third fastest today, behind the Honda's of Makoto Tamada and Sete Gibernau and concluded the session on a high. The 23-year-old American has shown maturity over the winter testing programme and has gelled well with his new for 2005 team under the guidance of Kiwi crew chief, Pete Benson. His final fastest lap was nearly two seconds faster than his qualification time at the 5.4km track for the GP here last year.

Biaggi has made impressive progress since stepping tentatively onto his factory RCV in Sepang in January; the first time back on a bike since breaking his ankle back in November in a supermoto spill. However the 33-year-old had a difficult day today and slipped from his RVC after having lost the front end.

Under the watchful eye of the team’s Technical Director, Erv Kanemoto, both riders, and their new crews, have made good progress in understanding the RCV and getting the best from the five-cylinder machine that has dominated racing in the four-stroke era.

The Repsol Honda Team will re-group in a fortnight (March 18-20) back in Barcelona, Spain along with the rest of the MotoGP pack for the official IRTA tests as the winter programme draws to a close. The teams then have a final test at Jerez prior to the first of 17 GP’s in 2005 at Jerez on April 10th.

Nicky Hayden - “After three days here we’re really starting to put it all together. I really enjoyed it here in Doha. There have been fewer riders around and we have really made some good progress. The conditions here have been good; less windy today. I’m back to Kentucky for a few days before coming back to Europe for the final tests before the season starts proper. I feel we’re in good shape; the team is working real good, and the bike is working well.”

Max Biaggi - “Today was not the best day. We had wanted to make a race simulation but we make a small mistake and I lose the front end of the machine in Turn 12. There was not so much damage but it was hard to get re-started again. We struggled with the set-up of the bike here both on the first day and today. However, we have much data and we tested several interesting parts from HRC and in some cases we have some good results. The team is so strong and motivated. I really look forward to the next test at Barcelona and then move onto racing.”