| Nicholas Hayden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Hayden in 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | July 30, 1981 Owensboro, Kentucky, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | May 22, 2017 (aged 35) Cesena, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bike number | 69 (retired in honor in the MotoGP class) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | nickyhayden.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nicholas Patrick Hayden (July 30, 1981 – May 22, 2017), nicknamed "The Kentucky Kid", was an American professional motorcycle racer who won the MotoGP World Championship in 2006. Hayden began racing motorcycles at a young age. He began his road racing career in the CMRA before progressing to the AMA Supersport Championship and then to the AMA Superbike Championship. He won the AMA title in 2002 and was approached by the Repsol Honda team to race for them in MotoGP in 2003.
Hayden largely had mixed results in his first 2 seasons at Repsol Honda only getting 4 podiums. He then rallied in the 2005 season by scoring his first Grand Prix win at Laguna Seca, and finishing third in the standings at the end of the season. The next year, 2006, would be Hayden's best in motorcycle racing as he won the 2006 MotoGP world title, breaking Valentino Rossi's five-year consecutive streak. He remained with Honda for two more seasons without a win, before moving to Ducati for 2009. Hayden had five largely unsuccessful seasons at Ducati, with his highest championship position being a seventh place in 2010. He subsequently moved to the Honda Aspar team in 2014 where he raced for two seasons.
Hayden moved to the Superbike World Championship with the Ten Kate Racing Honda team in 2016. He finished fifth in his first season in the Superbike World Championship with the highlight of his season being a win in Malaysia. For 2017 Hayden continued with the Red Bull Honda team (formerly Ten Kate Racing team).
On May 17, 2017, Hayden was hit by a driver while riding his bicycle in Italy.[1] He suffered a traumatic brain injury and died five days later in a local hospital.[2][3] Hayden was posthumously inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2018.[4]
- ^ "Superbike, Hayden investito in bici: danno cerebrale preoccupante". La Repubblica (in Italian). May 17, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ^ "Hayden non ce l'ha fatta: il pilota è morto dopo 5 giorni di coma". La Repubblica (in Italian). May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ^ "Nicky Hayden, former MotoGP world champion, dies five days after bike crash". The Guardian. May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- ^ "AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame announces Class of 2018". americanmotorcyclist.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2018.