Nicky Hayden

Nicky Hayden


PERSONAL DETAILS
NAME: NICKY HAYDEN
TEAM: REPSOL HONDA TEAM
NATIONALITY: AMERICAN
DATE OF BIRTH: 30/07/1981
MARRIED: SINGLE

Nicky Hayden may have failed to win a race while wearing the number one plate during 2007, but many believe the Repsol Honda rider actually rode harder than the previous year as he worked relentlessly to make the new RC212V competitive.

From motorcycle racing stock, almost Nicky’s entire family are motorcycle racers with father Earl having been a dirt-track rider, and brother Tommy and Roger-Lee both professional riders in the US. Even mother Rose and sister Jenny have raced bikes.

Hayden joined the Repsol Honda Team during his debut 2003 MotoGP season, having demonstrated his immense talent in the United States by becoming the youngest ever AMA Superbike Champion at 21. Prior to that he had lifted the AMA Supersport title in 1999, but it’s his background in the tough world of dirt-track racing that imbued Nicky with the resilience and bike control that has taken him to the very top of the world.

Nicky's first MotoGP season, teamed with Valentino Rossi, saw him fend off the likes of Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards to clinch the Rookie of the Year title as two podiums carried him to fifth in the points.

But 2004 was to be much tougher. Rossi (and his mechanics) had moved to Yamaha, leaving Hayden to inherit the role of team leader as HRC regrouped. Two podiums and eighth in the championship was way below expectations, but Nicky finally broke his duck with an emotional victory at his home US GP at Laguna Seca 2005 as he climbed back up to third in the standings.

2006 was one of the most extraordinary seasons of grand prix action ever seen and the 25-year-old displayed all his reserves of talent and determination to clinch the championship during a dramatic final round at Valencia. He is only the second rider in the history of the premier class to have taken the title having come into the last race behind on points – and behind Rossi no less.

During the first half of 2006 Hayden had built up a substantial lead in the standings by taking wins when they were available at Assen and Laguna Seca, and grinding out valuable points finishes when things weren’t going all his way. He made only one significant mistake - briefly running off the track at Donington Park - in an otherwise flawless season that saw his rivals’ performances ebb and flow. Ultimately it was Hayden’s consistency and dogged refusal to buckle under pressure that won him the crown, aided by Rossi's unexpected mistake at the season finale.

"This proves that good things happen to good people," Nicky declared after taking the title in Valencia. Hayden’s flood of emotions as he clinched that dramatic 2006 MotoGP crown will go down as one of the all-time memorable images of motorcycling.

2007 brought the fresh challenge of the 800cc era and a brand new machine in the shape of the RC212V. Ready to adapt his rear-wheel-steering style to the higher corner speeds and reduced power outputs, Hayden was determined to mount a robust defence of his title, but it wasn't to be.

During a year when Casey Stoner, Ducati and Bridgestone destroyed all before them, it took Hayden until mid-season to look comfortable on the Michelin-shod RC212V. Three podiums and one pole position followed, but the title was long gone.

Hayden will now hope that Honda and Michelin have learnt from the painful lessons of 2007 and can "come out swinging" for 2008.


Career Highlights:

1985 : First minibike dirt track race
1992 : First minibike roadrace
1997 : Winner Horizon dirt track award (Harley Davidson)
First AMA National roadrace (Kawasaki)
1998 : 4th AMA 750 Supersport Series
1998 : 4th AMA 600 Supersport Series
1999 : AMA 600 Supersport Champion
1999 : 2nd AMA Formula Xtreme Series
1999 : AMA Dirt Track 'Rookie of the Year'
1999 : 'Speedvision Pro Athlete of the Year'
2000 : 2nd AMA Chevy Trucks Trucks Superbike Series
2000 : 4th AMA Pro Honda Oils 600 Supersport Series
2001 : 3rd AMA Superbike Series
2002 : AMA Superbike Champion
2003 : 5th MotoGP World Championship. MotoGP 'Rookie of the Year'
2004 : 8th MotoGP World Championship
2005 : 3rd MotoGP World Championship - race wins 1
2006 : MotoGP World Champion - race wins 2
2007 : 8th MotoGP World Championship

END OF 2007.
STARTS: N/A
WINS: 3
POLES: 5
FASTEST LAPS: 5
POINTS: N/A
DEBUT: SUZUKA 2003.
DRIVEN FOR: REPSOL HONDA TEAM (2003 - 2008)

Positive finish with Honda Hayden´s main objective
Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Before his last two races as a Honda rider Nicky Hayden thanked HRC for their support and stated his desire to leave Repsol Honda on a positive note.


Having hit a patch of good form following his return from injury and with an exciting switch to Ducati Marlboro ahead of him, Nicky Hayden is in a highly positive frame of mind at present.

Up to sixth in the World Championship classification on the back of his recent run (second at Indianapolis, fifth at Motegi and third at Phillip Island) Hayden goes into his last two races with Repsol Honda chasing down the man replacing him in the team, Andrea Dovizioso, for a place in the top five in the final standings.

After six seasons with Honda in MotoGP, the 2006 World Champion Hayden wants to remain competitive in his farewell pair of GPs and is grateful for the effort of those around him – especially since bouncing back from his foot injury and since his move to Ducati was announced.

`The last few races have been a lot of fun and made me pretty happy,´ commented Hayden. `We need more, but it´s nice to be competitive. I owe a big thanks to everyone involved – Honda, Michelin and all the guys from Yamano (Repsol Honda team manager) all the way through, because it would have been real easy to fold up on me, but the easy way is just not our style.´

Previewing this weekend´s Polini Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix at a venue where his best result is fourth place (achieved three years consecutively from 2004-2006) the American rider stated, `No one can say they don´t know Sepang, it seems like we spend half the year there. Last year we did three tests and a race there, so the nearby airport hotel is like your second home. We spend about four weeks a year there, so you walk in and it´s scary because the people know you! Sepang is a great track. I like it, our bike has been running good, and you need a bike that´s running fast there.´

I hope Nicky is on the podium for the next races..

Give Honda the up yours they deserve

Yeah me too. He's been treated pretty poorly by them.

Nicky Hayden has hit back at Alberto Puig

Nicky Hayden hits back at Alberto Puig attack
By Matthew Birt

MotoGP

16 October 2008 12:53


Nicky Hayden has hit back at fierce criticism from Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa’s manager Alberto Puig in Malaysia today.

Outspoken Puig launched an incredible attack on Hayden last week, claiming the American copied Pedrosa’s machine settings and belittled his performances, even when he won the 2006 MotoGP world title.

Although reluctant to get into a public slanging match with Puig, Hayden couldn’t resist responding to the stinging criticism as he prepares for his penultimate race as Pedrosa’a team-mate in Sepang this weekend.

Hayden refuted suggestions that he can’t set up or develop a bike and that he relies heavily on coping the former double world 250 champion’s settings.

“Some of the stuff he says is a joke about sharing data and that's why I'm mad. I haven't seen his data for a long time. The truth is he sees everybody's data, so lets be clear about that. If it's me going fastest or (Andrea) Dovizioso going fastest, he sees everything."

Puig’s comments were apparently responding to an interview Hayden did with Madrid-based newspaper El Pais recently, which is one of Spain’s biggest national newspapers.

Hayden said: “It certainly seemed to ruffle a few feathers but I'm not really wanting to go back and have a cat fight back and forth with this guy and defend against everything he said. I’m not even sure what I said but I did say Puig basically runs our team, he runs HRC at the moment and I really believe that and I stand by that.

"I do think (Kazuhika) Yamano, our team manager, has done a great job. That guy is in a tough, tough spot and I know he's got a lot of heat coming at him from all directions, so that's basically what I said. I need to quit being a hypocrite I guess."

Hayden also denied rubbishing Pedrosa over his controversial move to Bridgestone tyres immediately after the Misano race in early September.

And he said he was untroubled by the dividing wall that splits the Repsol Honda garage since the switch, which Puig had said Hayden was upset about.

"That wall I couldn't care less about. It doesn't even faze me one little bit, said Hayden, who has claimed two podiums in the three races since Pedrosa quit Michelin.

Poor Nicky!!
I'm glad he's out!

He needs to be with a team that will let him be competitive, that isnt honda. i dont know if it is ducati or not but he cant be any worse off than he is now!

I hope he does well on the Ducati and gives Stoner something to worry about. Hopefully he wont suffer like poor Melandri has.

i think because nicky's background in riding is similar to casey's, he will do better than melandri. but lets face it, i could do better than melandri, just kidding

MotoGP » Hayden: We've got to keep it rolling.
Friday, 24th October 2008

Nicky Hayden fastest in both Friday free practice sessions at a wet Valencia.

Nicky Hayden began his final weekend as a Honda MotoGP rider in spectacular style at Valencia on Friday, when he blasted to the top of both free practice sessions in slippery conditions at the Spanish circuit.

Unsurprisingly for the last race of the wettest grand prix season in living memory, both of today's sessions were run in the rain.

This morning's outing was the wettest, conditions improving slightly this afternoon, with less surface water on the track, which allowed Hayden to better his first session time by almost two seconds and end the day just 0.087sec clear of Bridgestone-shod team-mate Dani Pedrosa.

"It was pretty soggy out there, just rain all day. The bike, the team, everything was on point today, now we've just got to keep it rolling, because nobody's going to remember who was quickest Friday come Sunday night," warned Nicky, who will make his Ducati Marlboro debut on Monday.

"The bike and tyres and everything worked pretty good straight away today. We've been using basically the same rain settings I've been using since Sachsenring, they've worked at different tracks and they're working good here, though this track doesn't have a lot of grip, so to go any faster we need to sweeten it up a bit.

"I like being fastest and if it means staying wet all weekend then that would be fine for me, but honestly I hope it dries up. It's going to be a hard weekend, just trying to stay on top, everybody's pushing hard, but we're off to a good start and I'm having fun.

"If it dries up tomorrow we don't think finding a set-up should be too difficult, because the last couple of races we've been using relatively the same settings. The main thing is going to be tyre choice, that's going to be real tough, because there's not going to be much dry time, but it's the same for everybody," he concluded, winless since the 2006 season and without a pole since 2007.

"Nicky did a very good job today, he and his crew found a good set-up very quickly, so they could be fastest in both sessions," added team manager Kazuhiko Yamano. "Michelin tyres are working very well here in these difficult conditions. The latest weather forecast suggests that conditions will improve tomorrow, so Nicky and his team will have to come up with a dry setting, working towards the race on Sunday."

Go nicky

hope he gets on the podium..

Nicky Hayden confident after Ducati debut
By Matthew Birt

MotoGP

28 October 2008 11:05


American Nicky Hayden believes he can tame Ducati’s GP9 and crush the belief that only Casey Stoner can master the V4 machine.

Get all the latest MotoGP news
Hayden’s long-waited debut for the Bologna factory ended with him claiming the 12th fastest time as he posted a best of 1.33.960 to finish in front of Sete Gibernau and Niccolo Canepa.

His time was 1.496s off the hugely impressive Stoner, who dominated the opening day of winter testing in Valencia yesterday.

The 27-year-old, who spent his entire premier class year in Honda’s official factory team, said: “I enjoyed it. I didn’t feel alien on the bike. I didn’t feel like I needed to tell them we got to have new handlebars and footpegs. But, sure, I have a lot of work to do. It’s not like I can call my dad and say, 'Hey everything is okay. You can let the dogs out. We’re cool.'

"You’re not going to find me over there climbing up one of these tall buildings for a place to jump just yet either. It’s what I expected. I didn’t expect it was going to be easy and I didn’t expect it to be disastrous.

Obviously I’ve got a lot of work to do. I enjoyed the bike. There’s a lot of potential there. It is going take a lot get it out of it.”

Hayden did one run on the GP8 machine before he started testing the carbon fibre framed GP9, which was painted in a special Stars and Stripes paint scheme for the Kentucky rider.

Although he admitted he was nervous about his debut, Hayden said he been excited about the prospect of joining Aussie Stoner, who has won 16 races in 36 appearances for Ducati.

“Usually when you have to test on Monday after a race you have a hard time dragging yourself out of bed, but this was different. I’ve been waiting for this. I did one run on the GP8, just to get a feel for it and to get my impression of the two bikes, “said Hayden, who was impressed with the engine performance of the Ducati.

He added: “One of the things that really impressed me was the acceleration. I found myself pretty comfortable on the bike, and I really didn't make a lot of changes to levers and handlebars.”

The test also gave Hayden the opportunity to get a taste of Bridgestone’s tyres and he said: “I tested with just two compounds, a soft and medium front and a medium and hard rear, and we didn’t have any trouble.

"I did about 30 laps on one rear and it was almost as good at the end as at the beginning. Of course, I’m two seconds off and when you get down to the real pace you find out a lot more, but I liked what I tried."

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/189081/changes-in-just-a-blink-of-an-eye.jhtml#id=1573916


a good video off nicky you should see this video made me like him even more can u see what parts made me like him more