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Remembering the Kentucky Kid and his championship win

Tributes are pouring in for former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden who died after a cycling accident (Wikipedia Commons).
Roar Guru
23rd May, 2017
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The world of motorsport is engulfed with mourning this week, following the passing of 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden, who succumbed in hospital to head injuries sustained in a road cycling accident.

Hayden was a popular figure among the motorcycle racing fraternity, with his feats in the premier class of grand prix racing speaking on behalf of the American.

A victor of three races in MotoGP and a veteran of 218 starts, the 35-year-old will be remembered for his dethroning of the GOAT in 2006, where Valentino Rossi’s five-year championship reign at last came to an end.

Having not risen through the MotoGP feeder categories, the ‘Kentucky Kid’ arrived onto the scene in 2003 having won the AMA Superbike championship.

Deployed alongside the reigning world champion Rossi at the elite Repsol Honda squad, Hayden finished fifth in his rookie campaign, earning the rookie of the year moniker.

It wasn’t until 2005 that the American had broken through for a maiden grand prix victory, in that well documented race on home soil at Laguna Seca. He beat compatriot Colin Edwards and Rossi, who was now riding for Yamaha.

Sticking with Repsol Honda after Rossi’s well publicised departure at the end of 2003, Hayden was vindicated come 2006. He used his consistency to string together a title winning campaign.

With six rounds remaining and a 51-point deficit on the table, the odds were stacked against Rossi after he suffered a third retirement of the season at the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

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All that was required of Hayden was a series of consistent points finishes. Even the consecutive podiums scored by Rossi would not be enough to overcome the margin, until a twist of fate at the penultimate race in Portugal.

A clash with Repsol Honda teammate and then-rookie Dani Pedrosa on the fourth lap of the race put Hayden on the sidelines for his first non-finish of the season. But more crucially it handed the standings lead to Rossi, who finished on the podium.

Valencia would see a duel for the title between old teammates, with eight points separating Rossi from Hayden.

The mercurial Italian stormed to pole position, leaving the American in his midst down in fifth place. The start was one to never forget though, unless you are Rossi, as the nine-time world champion suffered a poor getaway from pole.

Dropping down the order, Rossi, in his attempts to recover the lost ground, ended up crashing on the fifth lap. From there only 13th could be salvaged for ‘The Doctor’ and a miracle required for him to win his sixth title on the bounce.

It was the day of the ‘Kentucky Kid’, however, who finished third behind the Ducatis of Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi to clinch his first and only MotoGP title by five points over Rossi.

Scenes of the American riding helmetless and in tears with his Star-Spangled Banner during the cool-down lap remain vivid after one of the most enthralling title races in the sport’s illustrious history.

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Hayden’s triumph also bore great significance in that he had toppled the mighty Valentino Rossi, who since 2001 had been crushing any opposition that would attempt to take the title off him.

From there, Rossi has only won two more premier class championships to date, with that new era being ushered in as the likes of Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo won multiple crowns.

Although he was never to win a grand prix again, Hayden spent the next chapter of his MotoGP career on the factory Ducati alongside Stoner and another two years on a customer Honda, before a full-time switch to the World Superbikes Championship in 2016.

In the many tributes that have flowed for the 2006 world champion, many touching adjectives have been used to define Nicky Hayden. It is apt to surmise the American as a true champion and legend of the sport.

Ride on, Kentucky Kid.

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