"The Kentucky Kid" redirects here. For other uses, see Kentucky Kid.
Nicholas Hayden
Hayden in 2016
Nationality
American
Born
(1981-07-30)July 30, 1981 Owensboro, Kentucky, United States
Died
May 22, 2017(2017-05-22) (aged 35) Cesena, Italy
Bike number
69 (retired in honor in the MotoGP class)
Website
nickyhayden.com
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years
2003–2016
Manufacturers
Honda, Ducati
Championships
1 (2006)
2016 championship position
26th (1 pts)
Starts
Wins
Podiums
Poles
F. laps
Points
218
3
28
5
7
1698
Superbike World Championship
Active years
2002, 2016–2017
Manufacturers
Honda
Championships
0
2017 championship position
17th (40 pts)
Starts
Wins
Podiums
Poles
F. laps
Points
38
1
4
0
0
304
Supersport World Championship
Active years
1998
Manufacturers
Suzuki
Championships
0
1998 championship position
NC (0 pts)
Starts
Wins
Podiums
Poles
F. laps
Points
1
0
0
0
0
0
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.
The race was won by NickyHayden, who battled with Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards on the last lap. Edwards tried to lunge past Hayden, but ran wide onto...
which both Hayden and Biaggi said was an improvement, and was thereafter known as the "Brno bike". Factory riders: Max Biaggi, NickyHayden, Sete Gibernau...
NickyHayden AMA Horizon Award, originally the AMA Horizon Award, is given annually to promising amateur riders in motorcycle racing. The inaugural AMA...
Thomas Hayden (born July 14, 1978), aka Tommy Gun, is an American professional motorcycle racer and oldest brother to racers Nicky and Roger Lee. Hayden was...
Lee Hayden (born May 30, 1983) is an American professional motorcycle racer, the younger brother of both 2006 MotoGP World Champion NickyHayden and AMA...
2008 MotoGP season. Again, Casey Stoner remained with the team while NickyHayden became Stoner's new teammate on the factory Carbon Fibre chassis Ducati...
footballer Nicky Forster (born 1973), English football manager and former player Nicky Grist (born 1961), Welsh former rally co-driver NickyHayden (1981–2017)...
podium finishes, finished third overall. 2002 AMA Superbike Champion NickyHayden joined Rossi in 2003. Rossi with nine wins and finishing on the podium...
Troy Bayliss. That same year also captured the AMA Superbike title with NickyHayden. Honda had taken the lessons learned in the SP-1's first season, producing...
In July 2009 the 848 Hayden Limited Edition was introduced as a 2010 model as a marketing tie-in with world champion NickyHayden racing for Ducati starting...
campaigned their Desmosedici GP9 with former World Champions Casey Stoner and NickyHayden. Ducati also supplied customer bikes to Pramac Racing, with Mika Kallio...
for the 2011 MotoGP season. The bike was raced by Valentino Rossi and NickyHayden. On March 19, 2012, Ducati unveiled the GP12 for the 2012 Grand Prix...
Prix class for the first time since 2006, when he finished second to NickyHayden. Despite bookending his season with retirements, Rossi's Movistar Yamaha...
which Honda's NickyHayden did not claim the championship from Valentino Rossi until the final race of the year. The victory was Hayden's first and only...
contract with Pramac Racing renewed, and moved to Aspar Team to replace NickyHayden, who left MotoGP for the Superbike World Championship. Having competed...
behind eventual champion NickyHayden. In both these seasons he won more races than title rival Hayden, finishing ahead of Hayden in 2005 and just behind...
with mass centralization and handling as top priority. Dani Pedrosa and NickyHayden rode the factory-backed versions, while the customer machines were ridden...
result for 2005 was a second position at Laguna Seca, behind compatriot NickyHayden. He finished the season fourth overall. For 2006 Colin Edwards continued...
participate.[citation needed] The race was won by home hero NickyHayden. In 2006 Hayden once again won his home race. The 2008 United States Grand Prix...
reducing Lorenzo's gap to Rossi to 25 points. His first corner crash with NickyHayden in Australia was a blow to his title chances and Rossi clinched the title...
the only inductee who never won a single championship in his career. NickyHayden and Dani Pedrosa are the only MotoGP Legends to have started a race in...
Gibernau took his second consecutive pole position on Saturday, beating NickyHayden with 0.369 seconds. On Sunday, the race was red-flagged after seventeen...
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