WSBK – RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away … –

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RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden passed away…

WSBK - RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away ... -

The American driver Nicholas Patrick Hayden said Nicky, victim of a serious bicycle accident in Italy, has just passed away at the age of 35 … A look back at the career of the Kentucky Kid, a man appreciated by all, so much for his talents as a pilot than for his human qualities.

Born on July 30, 1981 in the "barbecue capital of the world" (Owensboro, Kentucky, like a certain Johnny Depp!), Nicholas Patrick Hayden was the youngest of a family of two girls and three boys (Tommy, Jenny, Nicky, Roger and Kathleen). He has just died in Italy.

WSBK - RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away ... -

Thanks to their parents Earl and Rose, both dirt track riders, the five little Haydens discovered the joys of motorcycling very early on. The "Kentucky Kid" joined dad’s dirt track team, Earl’s Team, and in 1985 competed in his first race at the Paducah International Raceway. With his brothers Tommy and Roger, he then climbed the ranks in local competitions and began road racing on a Yamaha YSR50 in 1987..

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  • MNC of 23 May 2017 :

In 1989 he raced in the AMA Amateur National Dirt Track, then moved to the 125 three years later with the Moto Liberty team. The first races abroad then began, notably with the Open Ducados in Spain with his brother Tommy under the supervision of Wayne Rainey..

After having tweaked his age a bit by making himself two years younger to "accumulate experience", he finally became a professional pilot at the age of 16 and joined the American Supersport 600 and 750 championships in 1997 on a Kawasaki ZX-6R. The following year, he joined a Suzuki satellite team (GSX-R 600 and GSX-R 750) in the same events and regularly finished ahead of official drivers with five wins in total..

In 1999 he opted for Honda in AMA Supersport (CBR900RR and CBR600) and also competed in the American Flat Track Championship on a Harley-Davidson XR750. In 2000, Nicky finished second in the AMA Superbike within the official Honda team on an RC51. Injured in 2001, he finished third but won the AMA Superbike title in 2002 with the American Honda team. He remains to this day the youngest winner in American Superbike history..

"Good things happen to good people"

It is in that he directly integrates the premier category of the MotoGP world championship within the prestigious official Honda Repsol team, alongside a certain Valentino Rossi. He finished 7th in his very first race then finished twice on the podium at Motegi and at, which earned him the title of "Rookie of the year", against two big names in the (world) Superbike Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards !

WSBK - RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away ... -

Injured in 2004, Nicky Hayden struggled to lead the official RC211V and finished with two consecutive podiums in and in. But he continued his progression in 2005 and finished third in the general classification (at!), After having signed his premier class at and being on five podiums in, in, in, in and in .

  • MNC of March 30, 2005 :
  • MNC of July 11, 2005 :

World champion !

2006 is the year of the coronation for Hayden, titled world champion ahead of Rossi and at the end of the. At the start of the final, the suspense was at its height: struck by his own teammate Dani Pedrosa, the "Kentucky Kid" was eight points less than "The Doctor"! That year, the "Kentucky Kid" had won a second victory on "his" circuit and won in a memorable duel against the "Texas Tornado".

WSBK - RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away ... -

"All year long I felt that it was my season", confided the n ° 69, moved to tears at the end of the: "to be called" champion "sounds really good to my ears! It just shows that the good ones things happen to people well. I swear on the warm-up lap I was riding and I had tears in my eyes because I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I had to go get it "…

  • MNC of September 22, 2006 :
  • MNC of October 26, 2006 :
  • MNC of October 30, 2006 :
  • MNC of June 4, 2007 :
  • MNC of November 7, 2007 :

The following years will be less favorable to the Kentucky Kid, uncomfortable from 2007 on the new Honda RC212V 800 cc. He climbed on three podiums in, in and in but only finished, then behind Andrea Dovizioso’s Honda satellite … "I would obviously have preferred to finish my last race with Honda on a better note", regretted Hayden then, in leaving for Ducati. 

WSBK - RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away ... -

In him tries the Ducati challenge alongside Casey Stoner but finishes, after a single podium in. He then finished with a podium to Joined by Valentino Rossi Himself with the Reds, the famous and appreciated n ° 69 finished with a podium to then .

  • MNC of July 30, 2010 :

In he re-entered the Ducati MotoGP team alongside Andrea Dovizioso, but the idyll came to an end and the month of July, just before the GP of Laguna Seca. He ends the season and returns to the Aspar satellite team with Hiroshi Aoyama.

WSBK - RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away ... -

Only with 47 small points, he continued for another year at Aspar with Eugene Laverty on the disappointing RC213V-RS and only won a long way. He then announced at the end of the season that he was leaving MotoGP to try out the adventure in the Superbike world championship in 2016. His goal was ambitious: to become the first rider to be titled in MotoGP and WorldSBK !

  • MNC of October 8, 2015 :

The Superbike years

In 2016, Hayden competed on the handlebars of the CRB1000RR (old version) of the official Honda team. He also does two MotoGP tests to replace (), then ().

WSBK - RIP The Kid: Nicky Hayden has passed away ... -

After participating in the CBR1000RR of the MuSASHi RT Harc-Pro team, he finished, behind his young Dutch teammate Michael van der Mark.

  • MNC of June 10, 2016 :

Finally this year, Nicky Hayden continued his engagement in WSBK with Honda. In charge of the development of the new Fireblade, he was currently at the, after a difficult start to the season, marked in particular by three withdrawals in, in and in .

The entire MNC team mourns the loss of this pilot, recognized and appreciated for his talent, his calm, his professionalism, his laaarge smile and his sympathy. Le Journal moto du net presents its condolences to his family and loved ones.

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