Nicky Hayden

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Nicky Hayden
Nicky Hayden
Nationality	American
Date of birth	July 30, 1981 (1981-07-30) (age 26)
Place of birth	Owensboro, Kentucky
Website	nickyhayden.com
MotoGP Record
Current team	Repsol Honda Team
Bike number	69
World Championships	1 (2006)
Race starts	83
Race Wins	3
Podium finishes	23
Pole positions	5
Fastest laps	5
Championship Points	832
2008 Championship position	9th (40 pts) - In Progress

Nicholas "Nicky" Patrick Hayden (born July 30, 1981 in Owensboro, Kentucky) also known as The Kentucky Kid, is an American professional motorcycle racer and 2006 MotoGP World Champion.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Beginnings and AMA Championship 1.2 Grand National Championship 1.3 MotoGP 1.4 World Championship season 2 Trivia 3 Racing history 3.1 MotoGP 3.2 AMA Superbike 3.3 AMA 600 Supersport 3.4 AMA 750 Superstock 3.5 AMA Formula Extreme 4 Career statistics 4.1 By Seasons 4.2 By class 4.3 Races by year 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Beginnings and AMA Championship

As a youth, racing others twice his age in CMRA, Hayden would often start the race from the back of the starting grid while a family or crew member held his bike upright because he could not touch the ground. Later at age 17, he was racing factory Honda RC45 superbikes while still in high school. In 2001, his first full season as an AMA superbike racer, he came within 40 points of winning the championship, behind champion Mat Mladin and runner-up Eric Bostrom. The 2002 season, however, would see Hayden answering the bell: he won the Daytona 200 on a Honda Superbike en route to becoming the youngest ever AMA Superbike Champion, defeating reigning treble champion Mat Mladin, among others. He also entered the World Superbike round at Laguna Seca, but collided with Noriyuki Haga in race 2.

[edit] Grand National Championship

Hayden is one of a long line of American road racers to come from the American dirt-track scene. In 1999, Hayden won his first Grand National Championship race (Hagerstown Half Mile) and took Rookie of the Year honors. He was also declared the AMA's athlete of the Year. In 2000, Nicky Hayden won the Springfield Short Track. In 2002, despite racing in just a handful of dirt-track events, Hayden was able to win four races: Springfield Short Track (twice), Springfield TT Steeplechase, and Peoria TT Steeplechase. At the Springfield TT race, the three Hayden brothers took the first three places (Nicky 1st, Tommy 2nd, and Roger Lee 3rd). The win at the 2002 Peoria TT is nothing short of legendary, as he broke Chris Carr's string of thirteen consecutive wins at the venue, depite starting from the penalty line. Hayden only lacks a win at a mile track to join Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts Sr., Bubba Shobert, and Doug Chandler in the prestigious "Grand Slam Club."

[edit] MotoGP

Immediately after winning his AMA Superbike championship, Hayden was tapped to join not only Honda's MotoGP racing efforts, but what was arguably the premier team in MotoGP racing- Repsol Honda. Hayden also became teammate to the defending series champion Valentino Rossi, who many believe to be the greatest motorcycle racer ever. Hayden was seemingly unfazed, and in his first year of MotoGP racing (2003), Hayden finished fifth in the championship points standings while riding Honda's RC211V, an achievement that won him the Rookie-of-the-Year award. In 2005, Hayden finished third in the MotoGP championship points standings behind Marco Melandri and series winner Valentino Rossi.

[edit] World Championship season

For 2006, Hayden was charged with spearheading Repsol Honda's championship aspirations, and was the only rider to be handed the full 2006 Honda bike during preseason testing. He led the championship from the third race and looked set to break Valentino Rossi's championship-winning streak, which had dated back to 2001. Capturing the championship was not without peril: in the second to last round at Estoril in Portugal, teammate Dani Pedrosa missed his braking point while following Hayden. The resulting lowside accident took out both bikes, with Rossi claiming second place in that race, finishing 0.002 seconds behind Toni Elias. This left Hayden eight points behind Rossi in the championship with one race left to go. In the last race of the season on October 29, 2006, the unexpected happened when Rossi fell off his motorcycle on lap 5 trying to make up for a poor start. Hayden, who was challenging for the race lead at the time, was informed of Rossi's mistake and backed off his lap times by nearly a second, winning the championship by finishing a safe 3rd behind race winner Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi. He thus won the 2006 championship, beating Rossi 252 points to 247. Thanks to the consistent Honda bike, Hayden managed the feat even with only two race wins in the season.

On September 22, 2006, Hayden signed a two-year agreement that would allow him to race for and develop with the factory Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) team for the 2007 and 2008 MotoGP seasons.^[1] He has already begun testing the new 800 cc Honda RC212V. His MotoGP racing number changes from 69 to 1 for the 2007 season.

2007 started badly for him, with the team struggling with performance, and team-mate Dani Pedrosa having the better of the Honda performance. A crash at Le Mans dropped him to eleventh in the standings at this stage. However, during testing before Donington, he requested that most of the electronics be switched off and his times improved dramatically. His subsequent performance in a wet Donington and a dry Assen showed a powerful return to form, seriously challenging for first and executing stunning passing manoeuvres around the outside with his trademark controlled sliding and tail-out non-standard lines.

[edit] Trivia

• Hayden has two brothers, Tommy and Roger Lee, both professional motorcycle racers in the AMA, and two sisters, Jenny and Kathleen.
• Hayden lists Bubba Shobert, Will Davis, and Lance Armstrong as his personal heroes.
• His traditional racing number, 69, was the same number his father used. His father jokes that the number was selected because it could still be read when he frequently ended up upside down in the weeds.
• Nicky is one day younger than the double Formula One champion Fernando Alonso

[edit] Racing history

[edit] MotoGP

• Team(s): Repsol Honda
• Motorcycle(s): Honda RC211V, Honda RC212V
• First MotoGP Race: April 6, 2003 - Suzuka - Seventh Place
• First MotoGP Podium: October 5, 2003 - Motegi - Third Place
• First MotoGP Win: July 10, 2005 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
• Number of MotoGP Wins: 3
• Number of MotoGP Podiums: 20
• Highest Championship Position: First (2006)

[edit] AMA Superbike

• Team(s): American Honda, HRC
• Motorcycle(s): Honda RC51, Honda RC45
• First Superbike Race: April 18, 1999 - Willow Springs International Raceway - Twelfth Place
• First Superbike Win: June 11, 2000 - Road America
• First Superbike Podium: September 19, 1999 - Pikes Peak International Raceway - Third Place
• Number of Superbike Wins: 17
• Number of Superbike Podiums: 30
• Highest Championship Position: First (2002)

[edit] AMA 600 Supersport

• Team(s): American Honda, Erion Honda, HyperCycle Suzuki
• Motorcycle(s): Honda CBR600F3, Honda CBR600F4, Suzuki GSX-R600
• First 600 Supersport Win: April 26, 1998 - Willow Springs International Raceway
• Number of 600 Supersport Wins: 6
• Highest Championship Position: First (1999)

[edit] AMA 750 Superstock

• Team(s): HyperCycle Suzuki
• Motorcycle(s): Suzuki GSX-R750
• First 750 Supersport Win: April 19, 1998 - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
• Number of 750 Supersport Wins: 5
• Highest Championship Position: Fourth (1998)

[edit] AMA Formula Extreme

• Team(s): Erion Honda
• Motorcycle(s): Honda CBR900RR
• First Formula Extreme Win: April 17, 1998 - Willow Springs International Raceway
• Number of Formula Extreme Wins: 7
• Highest Championship Position: Second (1999)

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] By Seasons

Seas	Class	Moto	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd	WCh
2003	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	16	0	2	0	0	130	5th	-
2004	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	15	0	2	0	0	117	8th	-
2005	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	17	1	6	3	2	206	3rd	-
2006	MotoGP	Honda RC211V	17	2	10	1	2	252	1st	1
2007	MotoGP	Honda RC212V	18	0	3	1	1	127	8th	-
Total			83	3	23	5	5	832		1

[edit] By class

Class	Seas	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	WCh
MotoGP	2003-2007	2003 Japan	2003 Pacific	2005 USA	83	3	23	5	5	832	1
Total	2003-2007				83	3	23	5	5	832	1

[edit] Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Yr	Class	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Final Pos	Pts
2003	MotoGP	Honda	JPN 7	SAF 7	SPA Ret	FRA 12	ITA 12	CAT 9	NED 11	GBR 8	GER 5	CZE 6	POR 9	BRA 5	PAC 3	MAL 4	AUS 3	VAL Ret			5th	130
2004	MotoGP	Honda	SAF 5	SPA 5	FRA 11	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	NED 5	BRA 3	GER 3	GBR 4	CZE Ret	POR Inj	JPN Ret	QAT 5	MAL 4	AUS 6	VAL Ret			8th	117
2005	MotoGP	Honda	SPA Ret	POR 7	CHN 9	FRA 6	ITA 6	CAT 5	NED 4	USA 1	GBR Ret	GER 3	CZE 5	JPN 7	MAL 4	QAT 3	AUS 2	TUR 3	VAL 2		3rd	206
2006	MotoGP	Honda	SPA 3	QAT 2	TUR 3	CHN 2	FRA 5	ITA 3	CAT 2	NED 1	GBR 7	GER 3	USA 1	CZE 9	MAL 4	AUS 5	JPN 5	POR Ret	VAL 3		1st	252
2007	MotoGP	Honda	QAT 8	SPA 7	TUR 7	CHN 12	FRA Ret	ITA 10	CAT 11	GBR 17	NED 3	GER 3	USA Ret	CZE 3	SMR 13	POR 4	JPN 9	AUS Ret	MAL 9	VAL 8	8th	127
2008	MotoGP	Honda	QAT 10	SPA 4	POR Ret	CHN 6	FRA 8	ITA 13	CAT -	GBR -	NED -	GER -	USA -	CZE -	SMR -	IND -	JPN -	AUS -	MAL -	VAL -	-	-

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• nickyhayden.com - Official site

Preceded by Steve Crevier	AMA Supersport 600 Champion 1999	Succeeded by Kurtis Roberts
Preceded by Mat Mladin	AMA Superbike Champion 2002	Succeeded by Mat Mladin
Preceded by Valentino Rossi	MotoGP Motorcycle World Champion 2006	Succeeded by Casey Stoner

v • d • e Teams and Riders competing in the 2008 MotoGP World Championship Ducati Marlboro Repsol Honda Rizla Suzuki Fiat Yamaha Honda Gresini Alice Team Kawasaki Racing Yamaha Tech 3 Honda LCR JiR Team Scot 1 Stoner 33 Melandri 2 Pedrosa 69 Hayden 7 Vermeulen 65 Capirossi 46 Rossi 48 Lorenzo 15 de Angelis 56 Nakano 24 Elías 50 Guintoli 13 West 21 Hopkins 5 Edwards 52 Toseland 14 de Puniet   4 Dovizioso

v • d • e Repsol Honda Dani Pedrosa (2) | Nicky Hayden (69) Grand Prix motorcycle : Honda RC212V

v • d • e 500 cc/MotoGP Motorcycle World Champions     1949 - L. Graham 1950 - U. Masetti 1951 - G. Duke 1952 - U. Masetti 1953 - G. Duke 1954 - G. Duke 1955 - G. Duke 1956 - J. Surtees 1957 - L. Liberati 1958 - J. Surtees 1959 - J. Surtees 1960 - J. Surtees 1961 - G. Hocking 1962 - M. Hailwood 1963 - M. Hailwood 1964 - M. Hailwood 1965 - M. Hailwood 1966 - G. Agostini 1967 - G. Agostini 1968 - G. Agostini 1969 - G. Agostini 1970 - G. Agostini 1971 - G. Agostini 1972 - G. Agostini 1973 - P. Read 1974 - P. Read 1975 - G. Agostini 1976 - B. Sheene 1977 - B. Sheene 1978 - K. Roberts 1979 - K. Roberts 1980 - K. Roberts 1981 - M. Lucchinelli 1982 - F. Uncini 1983 - F. Spencer 1984 - E. Lawson 1985 - F. Spencer 1986 - E. Lawson 1987 - W. Gardner 1988 - E. Lawson 1989 - E. Lawson 1990 - W. Rainey 1991 - W. Rainey 1992 - W. Rainey 1993 - K. Schwantz 1994 - M. Doohan 1995 - M. Doohan 1996 - M. Doohan 1997 - M. Doohan 1998 - M. Doohan 1999 - À. Crivillé 2000 - K. Roberts, Jr. 2001 - V. Rossi 2002 - V. Rossi 2003 - V. Rossi 2004 - V. Rossi 2005 - V. Rossi 2006 - N. Hayden 2007 - C. Stoner