Sitting here thinking of the irony that Nicky Hayden should die doing something simple, like millions of other people do every day, riding a bicycle when since before his feet would even touch the ground, he was on the back of a motorbike racing his heart out…
“II don't remember life before bikes,” he explained in an interview with the sports official website last year. “From the time I literally crawled, I was around a motorcycle. My dad raced, even my mom raced because my dad—the story goes—he needed a fast girl because he wanted to make fast babies. He'd come from Kentucky, where horse racing is so popular, and the bloodline is so important. So my mom and dad both raced, my older brother was racing, and from the time literally I could crawl, I was already with the bikes.”
The risks he took the speeds he raced at, the crashes he endured, all for the love of racing He didn't complain, no matter how many injuries he sustained. He repaired himself, or doctors did, and off he would go again, chasing the victory, the thrill of the race wherever he could and always with a smile on his young face. That's where Nicky was happiest, on the back of a motorbike racing his heart out. As much as he wanted to win, the thrill of racing kept him at it, even when the victories became few and far between.
“Racing motorcycles is just a way of life for me. It's what I know, it's what I've always done, my family does it, my friends do it, and it really is more than just a job. It's a passion. Bikes are a way of life for me.”
After winning the AMA Superbike championship, Nicky spent five years racing for Honda in the Moto GP series, 2003 – 2008…
“My jump to MotoGP was huge. I went from AMA and I came from a big family, from Kentucky, a small town. I grew up sharing a room with my brother and I look back now because at times I was so lost. I was just a kid who was really still a dirt tracker at heart, and got thrown into a very deep end, and I had a lot to learn. And if I'm completely honest, the step was bigger than I thought it was going to be. Not only did I have to learn a new bike, and the team, and the racing, but I had to learn the whole culture, the travel, and it was deep water and not easy in the beginning. But luckily I had a good bike—that really helps—and I was able to get good results and justify it. I was able to win Rookie of the Year that year, in 2003, and beat out (Troy) Bayliss and Colin (Edwards) and good riders to get that award. It was a steep learning curve, but I learned to swim just quick enough to stay on.”
… and it was in 2006 when he beat Valentino Rossi to the title. He was leading the charge from the third race of the season that year, up until the penultimate round when he was taken out by his teammate, Dani Pedrosa. This put him 8 points behind Rossi with one race remaining, however the doctor became a victim of a crash in the season finale, giving Nicky the title he so richly deserved.
“What I remember that year was coming out of the last corner of Valencia and realising my dream of being World Champion at the highest level was coming true and that was very special. I have a ton of respect for Valentino Rossi, as we know, he's the goat. He's the one, in my opinion, who has done so much, in our lifetime, for MotoGP, and put it at the level that it is. To be the guy that beat him that year—it wasn't easy, I had a couple of breaks, everything went my way. And to be able to beat him certainly made it extra special.”
That will be the season he will forever be remembered for, because his move to Ducati in 2009 failed to yield the desired results. He scored just three podium finishes for the Italian team, one a year, third place, for the first three years before leaving them to return to Honda for the 2014 season. It wasn't the factory team however, so once again results were not forthcoming, placing 16th and 20th in the championship standings in the next two seasons. He only contested two races last season before making the switch to Superbikes after a total of 14 seasons in the premier class.
Racing for the Red Bull Honda team in Superbikes, Nicky scored his first win in Malaysia last year along with another three podium finishes.
He had just finished racing in round five of this year's World Superbike Championship at Imola and was busy training for the next round in Great Britain when he tragically lost his life in a cycling accident.
One thing's for sure, he was a true champion in the eyes of everyone that knew him and he will forever race on in the hearts of friends family and fans across the world.
God speed Nicky. May you forever ride high on the racetracks of heaven.
30-07.81 - 22.05.17. RIP sweet boy.
