Wikipedia

Nicky Hayden

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Template:MotoGP rider

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

Biography

As a youngster racing others twice his age in CMRA, Hayden would 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 a AMA superbike rider, he came within six points of winning the championship. Hayden went on to win the Daytona 200 on a Honda superbike in 2002 and clinched the title that year to become the youngest ever AMA superbike champion.

His first year of MotoGP (2003) saw Hayden finish fifth in the championship points standings, more than enough to take Rookie-of-the-Year honors. In 2005, Hayden finished third in the MotoGP championship points standings behind Marco Melandri and series winner Valentino Rossi. For 2006, Hayden has been charged with spear heading Repsol Honda's championship aspirations. This is evidenced by his seniority in age among the new crop of MotoGP riders and by virtue of being the only rider to have been handed the full 2006 Honda bike during preseason testing. Failure to lead Honda and challenge for the championship would have him demoted in Honda's pecking order of young riders, but he lead the championship and looked set to break Valentino Rossi's championship-winning streak, dating back to 2001. Unfortunately for Hayden, however, at Estoril in Portugal, Nicky's teammate Dani Pedrosa tried to overtake him and the front wheel locked, taking out both bikes. With Rossi claiming second place in that race, Hayden was then eight points behind in the championship with one race left to go. In the last race of the season on 29th October 2006, the unexpected happened when Rossi fell off his motorcycle on lap 5 after a poor start. Hayden managed to win the championship by finishing 3rd behind race winner Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi, thereby gaining 16 points and pipping Rossi by 252 points to 247.

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 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.

Racing history

MotoGP

AMA Superbike

AMA 600 Supersport

AMA 750 Superstock

AMA Formula Extreme

Preceded by MotoGP World Champion
2006 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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