Roger Lee Hayden clocked the fastest time in a two-day test session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday and Friday. According to his team, Hayden clocked a best of 1:47.6 on a Honda CBR600RR-powered Moriwaki Moto2 machine on the 2.6-mile, 16-turn motorcycle road course. The time set on the morning of the second day of the test was a breakthrough of sorts for Hayden, who had been stuck in the low 1:49s on the first day of testing on a track that was very dirty, having not been used since last year’s MotoGP event. In addition to American Honda’s two full days of testing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials gave the chance for three other riders–Americans Kenny Noyes and Jason DiSalvo, along with Venezuelan (and U.S. resident) Robertino Pietri–to test for 90 minutes, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. each day. DiSalvo was aboard his GP Tech FTR M210 Moto2 bike, while Noyes was on local racer Gene Burcham’s Superstock-spec 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R shod with DOT-labeled Dunlop N-Tech tires and equipped with data acquisition. Burcham and Gary Jeffries crewed and made set-up adjustments for Noyes. Pietri tested only the first day, riding a stock 2008 Suzuki GSX-R600 shod with Michelin street tires with no crew support. Pietri’s bike was leased from local racer Reuben Frankenfield. In typical carefree fashion, Pietri beeped the bike’s horn at the American Honda crew as he sped down pit lane onto the circuit. This was the second test on the FTR for DiSalvo and he was quickly up to speed, clocking a best of 1:48.2 on the second day. Noyes was surprisingly fast on the Superstock-spec Kawasaki, dipping into the low 1:51s in his final session on Friday. Pietri turned the most laps of anyone during Thursday evening’s after-hours session, but since he was on a streetbike with street tires for him it wasn’t about lap times, but merely learning the circuit. MotoGP rules prevent full-time series riders from testing on their racebikes outside of official series tests, but Noyes and Pietri were allowed to practice on production machines. The stakes are high for American Honda and the Erion Racing crew. According to Roger Hayden, American Honda paid $30,000 to rent the Speedway for the two days and this was the third multi-day test for Hayden. With such a massive effort, expectations are high. While Hayden and his crew said all the right things publicly, you could tell there was tension in the American Honda garage. Kevin Erion barked at this reporter for coming into the garage with a camera and said no photos were allowed, in spite of the fact that Indianapolis area general-interest newspaper and television reporters, photographers and video crews were massed just outside the open garage and soon filed in with cameras in hand. Later, guests of Kevin Schwantz’s school toured the working garage and snapped photos with cameras and cell phones. On Thursday, Hayden said he was struggling trying to get the Moriwaki MD600 Moto2 racebike–which is identical to the bike ridden by Moto2 World Championship points leader Toni Elias–to handle and on Friday he shifted the blame for the handling woes partially to the dirty track. Despite Schwantz and his school instructors going out both days on school bikes to help clean the track, visible dust was still being kicked up by the bikes in certain sections on Friday. “The track was dirty both days,” Hayden said. “It finally started coming around about 4:30 today (Friday). So it’s tough to tell where we are with the track being like it was and this motor being worn out after three tests. “All the tracks we went to were so different that the settings were completely different here, but I feel pretty confident we got some things accomplished and I definitely know the track now, so I’m really looking forward to getting back here to race next week,” Hayden added. Former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden was on hand Friday and Roger Hayden said he got some good pointers from his older brother. “He went out and watched me in a couple of sections and gave me some advice,” Roger Hayden said. “It’s good to have someone with a lot of experience here checking things out and giving you some tips on the best way to get around this place.” DiSalvo was able to run within a half-second of Roger Hayden’s time in spite of the limited practice time available to him. A lot is riding on the Indy Moto2 race for DiSalvo and he admitted as much. “I want to prove that I deserve to race at the World Championship level and this is my opportunity,” DiSalvo said. “It’s going to be tough to jump right into a series with the experience that these guys have, but this test might help level the playing field a bit and hopefully we can go out and have a good performance.” The Indy test gave all four of the riders their first chance to ride on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway motorcycle course. Kenny Noyes, who was the Moto2 polesetter at the French Grand Prix, thinks the times during the race weekend will get into the 1:46s, maybe even 1:45s. “The track will be a lot cleaner and everyone’s going to pushing a lot harder,” said Noyes. “I just can’t say enough about Gene (Burcham) for giving me such a nice bike to practice on and Gary (Jeffries) for helping as well. It’s more powerful than my Moto2 bike! I did a lot of laps in a short amount of time and that gives me a lot of confidence going into next week’s race.” Unofficial Indy Moto2 Test Times 1. Roger Lee Hayden, (American Honda Moriwaki MD600), 1:47.6 2. Jason DiSalvo, (GP Tech FTR M210), 1:48.2 3. Kenny Noyes, (Kawasaki ZX-6R, Superstock), 1:51 4. Robertino Pietri, (Suzuki GSX-R600, stock), 1:55