By alley - Jun 1, 2017, 6:26 PM ET

Honda expects 'emotional' Mugello after Hayden's death

Above: Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, 2008.

The Repsol Honda team was preparing for a one-day test at Circuit de Catalunya last week when they learned of the death of Nicky Hayden, who won the 2006 MotoGP championship while with the team. This weekend's MotoGP event at Mugello marks the first race

since Hayden's death

on May 22, and riders Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez have admitted that emotions will be high as they take to the track.

"The Mugello weekend will be very emotional. It's tough to lose a friend, especially one who became very close during three seasons as teammates and over the years afterwards," said Pedrosa, who teamed with Hayden from 2006-08 before Hayden moved to Ducati in 2009. "I remember how much Nicky pushed, how hard he tried, never giving up while chasing his dream to win the MotoGP title. I also remember when I was suffering with arm-pump in 2015 and I announced I was going to stop with racing for a while after the first GP. He immediately came to see me to understand what was going on and it was him who actually recommended the doctor I had the surgery with. He was such a nice person and I'm so sad and sorry especially for his family.

"We will think of him and feel him close in our hearts when we go on track in Mugello, as we did at the Montmelo test last week."

Marquez remembered Hayden as "a great rider and an incredible person."

He recalled: "I remember once, when I was a kid of 15 at the very beginning of my career in the world championship and he was the MotoGP world champion. We took part in an event together and my English was very poor, so he tried to speak Spanish and he was very funny and easy-going, treating me as if I was his little brother. And then we shared the garage last year in Australia and had a great party together after the race. Like his amazing family, he had a great passion for motorcycling, and he will always be in our hearts."