Nationality · United States
Born · 30 July 1981
World superbike début · 2002
Grand prix début · 2003
Nicky Hayden, also known as ‘the Kentucky Kid’, is from a family of motorcycle racers. His two brothers are top AMA competitors, but his parents and one sister also have backgrounds in the sport. Nicky has gone all the way from success on dirt tracks to road racing Superbikes and finally to the Moto Grand Prix title - beating none other than Valentino Rossi - and is likely to be a feature on the scene for many years to come, as he is still only 25 years old.
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nicky hayden
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nicky hayden
1985
Minibike dirt track racing début; multiple dirt track titles over the next six years in various small capacity classes
1992
Minibike road racing début; ‘senior’ road racing début, with Honda RS125 GP bike; would continue racing on dirt and roads with 250cc, 125cc and small capacity bikes
1997
Horizon dirt track award winner, with Harley-Davidson; AMA National road racing début, with Kawasaki
1998
4th in AMA Supersport 750, with Suzuki; 4th in AMA Supersport 600, with Suzuki - won Willow Springs
1999
AMA Supersport 600 Champion, with Honda CBR600 F4 - five wins; 2nd in AMA Formula Xtreme, with Honda - seven wins; 22nd in AMA Superbike, with Honda - 3rd at Pikes Peak; AMA Grand National Dirt Track Rookie of the Year; AMA/Speedvision Pro Athlete of the Year
2000
2nd in AMA Superbike, with number 69 Honda RC51 - three wins, three seconds
2001
3rd in AMA Superbike, with number 69 Honda RC51 - four wins
2002 American Honda, number 69 Honda
AMA Superbike Champion, with the Honda RC51 and nine race wins; also a World Superbike wildcard at Laguna Seca - fourth in race one
2003 Repsol Honda, number 69 Honda
Nicky moved straight to MotoGP with Honda’s factory team, as partner to title holder Valentino Rossi. He achieved ‘rookie of the year’ status with an ever-improving run of results on the RC211V, and had made it onto the front row of the grid by the last event of the year. Race results started with a couple of sevenths, and mid-season saw him begin a run of top six finishes, with third in Japan and Australia. 130 points placed him fifth overall.
2004 Repsol Honda Team, number 69 Honda
There was another experienced team-mate for Hayden in 2004, in the shape of Alex Barros. For a works rider, the season did not really represent a step forward for Nicky, even if he was in the top five many times. Third place results came this time in Brazil and Germany, but there were crashes and six no-scores, which meant 117 points and a drop back to seventh equal. His best qualifying to date came with second in Italy
2005 Repsol Honda Team, number 69 Honda
2005 was a proper breakthrough year for Nicky, and this time he out-performed his third Repsol team-mate, 13-time race winner Max Biaggi. Hayden only missed top six qualification twice, and was on pole position three times. Biaggi had the edge in the first five races, but then the younger man eased into the top five twice before heading to his first GP on home soil. Laguna Seca returned to the calendar for the first time since 1994, and was the scene of Nicky’s best form as he won convincingly. This launched him into a run that included another five podiums, and 206 points meant third overall. There were also two fastest laps
2006 Repsol Honda Team, number 69 Honda
Yet another new partner came in the form of Dani Pedrosa, graduating from a successful 250cc career with two consecutive titles. Nicky put together a consistent run of top results - only twice outside the top three in the first eleven races, and this built him a good lead as Yamaha’s Rossi had mixed fortunes. The Assen race saw a thriller, with Hayden getting the better of Colin Edwards in a last lap duel, and his first race win in Europe. Another followed at Laguna, after which he had 34 points over Pedrosa, with Rossi fourth. The Italian came back strongly, and a clash of the Repsol riders in Portugal seemed to have cost Hayden the title. But Rossi did not perform in Valencia, and the crown was Nicky’s by five points. He scored a total of 252, as well as taking one more pole position.
Nicky Hayden Biography
From the Beginnings to MotoGp and the World Championship season
With 2008 marking his sixth season racing the fiercely competitive, international Moto GP series, Nicky Hayden is one of motorcycle racing's true standouts! In just his fourth year competing within the world renowned Moto GP race series, the charismatic 25 year old made motorcycle racing history winning the overall series and title of MOTO GP CHAMPION for the 2006 season!
Indeed a racing prodigy, earlier in his career, Nicky became the youngest rider in the 27-year history of Superbike racing to win the 2002 AMA U.S. Superbike Championship. Just 2 weeks after his 21st birthday, Nicky finished the 16 round series with nine wins and four additional podium finishes thereby moving him into a third place spot on the all-time AMA
U.S. Superbike wins list...with a career total of 17 Superbike victories!
In the 2003 season, Nicky continued to define motorcycle racing history, moving up to the World Moto GP circuit and completing the season with Rookie of the Year honors. For all four seasons of his Moto GP career, Nicky has raced as part of the prestigious Honda Repsol team traveling to international tracks, in 13 different countries, during the nine-month series. He garnered his first career Moto GP win on July 10, 2005 at Laguna Seca, in front of a record setting U.S. crowd and finished that year a very respectable third place overall.
The young phenome hailing from Owensboro, Kentucky comes from a true racing family - Nicky's two brothers Tommy and Roger also compete in several classes of AMA motorcycle racing series, his father, Earl was a dirt track racer for 20 years and even his mother, Rose rode the Powder Puff class for five years.
Riding since the age of three and racing since five, Nicky turned pro in 1997, with the 1998 season marking his first season of professional racing. At just 16, Nicky stormed the AMA Supersport classes, taking five victories during his rookie season.
The following season, Nicky competed within three different classes of the AMA race series, taking the AMA 600 Supersport title, while also competing within the Grand National Flat Track series and was awarded the Ricky Graham Rookie of the Year award and was also presented with the 1999 AMA SpeedVision Athlete of the Year award for his incredible athleticism across the various race series'. The 2000 and 2001 seasons brought Nicky second and third place finishes with the 2002 season culminating with the series championship.
As if winning the most coveted title in United States motorcycle racing wasn't an arduous challenge, Nicky furthered fueled his immense race desires by competing within the Grand National Flat Track series during his off weekends and finishing and winning five of the nine nationals he competed in.
In addition to an illustrious race career, Nicky has collaborated on a book, Hayden Brothers from OWB to Moto GP and he recently completed work on his MTV special, The Kentucky Kid. Nicky even has his own signature line of clothing featuring -- t-shirts, caps and other casual wear designed with race-inspired influences unique to Nicky Hayden! In spare time, Nicky enjoys motocross, XR50's, playing basketball and spending time with friends and family.
