Cycle News

I t's difficult to comprehend that it's the 20th anniversary of Nicky Hayden winning motorcycle racing's most prestigious title, the MotoGP World Championship. It feels like yesterday. In fact, it doesn't seem like that long ago that a 16-year-old Nicky Hayden showed up to Pikes Peak International Raceway on a Kawasaki ZX-6R to take part in his first profes- sional road race. Hayden did double duty that day in 1997, riding the 600cc Kawasaki in both the 600cc Supersport and 750cc Supersport races. He was impressive in both, finishing 12th against the best of the best at the time in 600cc Supersport: Miguel Duhamel, Pascal Picotte, Larry Pegram, Jamie Hacking, Rich Oliver, Aaron Yates, Jason Pridmore… to name a few. He was 13th in the 750cc Supersport race, which was won by Pridmore over Doug Polen. Some guy named Ben Bostrom was 10th. Those of us who were there weren't certain that Nicky Hayden was going to be a superstar, but it most certainly seemed likely. Two years later, in 1999, Nicky won his first 600cc Supersport Championship on an Erion Honda. Ironically, the title was wrapped up at the same Pikes Peak venue in Fountain, Colorado, where he had made his debut. Hayden also competed in the Formula Xtreme series in '99, finishing second in the champion- ship standings. It was also in 1999 that Hayden made his Superbike debut at the ripe young age of 18. Nicky's first race on the Erion Honda RC45 was solid and his 12th-place finish got the attention of anyone not wise enough to see earlier what this Hayden kid was capable of. 20 YEARS LATER: Nicky Hayden's Road To Superstardom By Paul Carruthers Hayden's performances were enough for Honda to decide to replace the injured Miguel Duhamel in the final four races of the '99 season with Nicky. Not one to let the opportunity pass, Nicky earned his first-career Superbike podium. Again, that result came at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Nicky had another career first in 1999 when he won his first career AMA Flat Track National with the victory coming at the Hagerstown Half Mile. The win was the first of what would be six career AMA Grand National Championship victories. A year later and Hayden scored another first when he won his first AMA Superbike race at Road America. He liked it so much he won again the next day in the second race of the doubleheader. Two years later he was the AMA Superbike Champion, a Daytona 200 winner, and the hottest property in road racing. And just like that he was off to take on the world. The rest, as they say, is history. CN Thanks to Red Bull and Jeremy Malott, Red Bull's Motorsports Marketing Manager, for reminding us of something we should never forget. Nicky Hayden was the 2006 MotoGP World Champion and it's worth celebrating not just for the racer he had become, but for the person he always was. PHOTO BY BRIAN J. NELSON Nicky Hayden left his mark on AMA Superbike racing, winning the 2002 AMA Superbike title be- fore heading off to battle the world's best. "Those of us who were there weren't certain that Nicky Hayden was going to be a superstar, but it most certainly seemed likely."

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