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Nicky Hayden was born to be a racer, when he wasn’t racing bikes he was talking bikes

NICKY Hayden was born to be a racer. Throughout his life, when he wasn’t racing motorcycles, he was talking motorcycles. Ian Royall reflects on how he took the racing world by storm.

IAN ROYALL
2 min read
May 23, 2017 - 7:09AM
FILE — In this Oct. 29, 2006, file photo, United States Honda rider Nicky Hayden holds a U.S. flag after winning the world championship GP at the Cheste racetrack near Valencia, Spain. The Maurizio Bufalini Hospital has announced that American motorcycle racer Nicky Hayden has died, five days after being hit by a car while training on his bicycle Hayden was 35. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
FILE — In this Oct. 29, 2006, file photo, United States Honda rider Nicky Hayden holds a U.S. flag after winning the world championship GP at the Cheste racetrack near Valencia, Spain. The Maurizio Bufalini Hospital has announced that American motorcycle racer Nicky Hayden has died, five days after being hit by a car while training on his bicycle Hayden was 35. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)

“What can I say, I love racing motorcycles.’’

With those eight words, Nicky Hayden summed up his life and his love of being on the track. He was born to be a racer.

Hayden made those comments at Phillip Island just seven months ago when he was asked by the Honda factory MotoGP team to replace an injured Dani Pedrosa at the Australian GP.

Hayden, 35, had been racing World Superbikes but the 2006 World MotoGP champion was the obvious replacement when the ride became available.

In the race, Hayden was circulating in eighth spot but tangled with Aussie Jack Miller two laps from home, ran into the gravel and finished 17th. (Miller was full of apologies later).

Nicky Hayden celebrates after winning the 2006 Moto GP championship
Nicky Hayden celebrates after winning the 2006 Moto GP championship

This morning, the racing world is in mourning following Hayden’s death, five days after he was hit by a car while training on his bicycle.

From bursting on the scene, he was always known as the Kentucky Kid. And he raced every time with the exuberance of a kid on his first Peewee 50.

Like both his parents, Hayden started racing at dirt tracker events, winning his first race as a four-year-old, yes four.

His family and a trailer full of bikes became regular fixtures at meetings across the American mid-west during the 90s and beyond.

It was on the tracker circuit that he developed his trademark, tail-out drift style.

One of five children, he often raced his siblings. And at the Springfield TT race in 2002, the three Hayden brothers filled the podium — Nicky first, Tommy second, and Roger Lee third. Never done before, not since.

Moving on to the AMA Superbike series, his performances quickly catapulted him into a MotoGP seat in 2003 at age 21. And in the Repsol Honda team no less. And alongside reigning world champion Valentino Rossi.

It was to be the start of a long-term partnership between the two. Their friendship would endure even longer.

Hayden finished fifth in 2003 and was crowned rookie of the year, placed behind Rossi, Sete Gibernau, Max Biaggi and Lois Capirossi. He was right at home in the big time.

Yet it took till mid-2005 for him to pilot his No. 69 Honda to its first chequered flag, and appropriately at his home race, at Raceway Laguna Seca.

Nicky Hayden of the U.S. waves on the podium after finishing third in Spain.
Nicky Hayden of the U.S. waves on the podium after finishing third in Spain.

The following year he collected 10 podiums from 17 races to claim the world championship, edging out Rossi in the final race at Valencia and breaking the Italian’s run of five straight titles.

After another two years with Honda, he switched to the factory Ducati team in 2009, joining Australian Casey Stoner.

Hayden secured three third places in five years at Ducati, including two years with Rossi.

He finished his final two full MotoGP seasons with the Honda Aspar satellite team before switching to the superbike series last year, still with Honda.

In 2015, he was named a legend by the FIM, the sport’s world governing body.

Hayden finished his final year in fifth position, including a victory in Malaysia. His 2016 calendar included the MotoGP detour to Australia to replace Pedrosa.

The likeable American was back at Phillip Island for a final time in February, riding for the Red Bull Honda team. He was 11th in the first race and retired in the second. Not a great weekend, but around the paddock, his signature smile, southern drawl and genuine warmth meant he simply a good guy to be around.

Hayden was always a professional on the track. But he loved being in the paddock too. Because when he wasn’t racing motorcycles, he was talking motorcycles.

Originally published as Nicky Hayden was born to be a racer, when he wasn’t racing bikes he was talking bikes

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