VOL. 53 ISSUE 47 NOVEMBER 29, 2016 P27
HAYDEN HAS SUCCESSFUL SURGERY
N
icky Hayden has undergone
surgery to repair a detached
right knee medial collateral liga-
ment (MCL). The former World
Champion suffered the injury
while dirt tracking in Spain last
Sunday and now faces a few months' recovery pe-
riod to be fit in time for the 2017 WorldSBK season
with the all-new Honda CBR1000RR.
"I had a chance to do some flat-track training
during my days off on a small, second-gear track,
but I caught my foot awkwardly in a bit of a rut and
twisted my knee around," Hayden said. "Luckily, I
didn't crash nor hurt anything else on my body, but
I knew straightaway that something was wrong with my knee. It turned out that I had a tear to the MCL,
so after consulting with some doctors back in the U.S., I had an operation today to fix it. I will rest for
a few days, but it looks like I'm going to start rehab very soon and I will follow the doctor's instructions
very closely. Injuries are never good, but luckily I have a bit of time now before the new season comes
around. I want to thank Dr. Chao and his staff; I will now spend some days testing and then tackle the
rehab in order to jump on the new bike as soon as possible!" CN
Hayden now
has a few
months off until
he's got to be
ready for winter
testing.
BAKER, HALBERT RIDE WITH ROSSI
I
f you are a flat track fan, then
you will be very interested in
Tavullia, Italy, because located
in Tavullia is the home of Val-
entino Rossi and the Valentino
Rossi Ranch, also the home to a
long-course TT track that is laid
out similar to a well-known track
in Daytona, with its limestone
surface. It's one of the revered
flat track courses in the world,
but it's not open to the public.
If you want to ride it, be nice to
Rossi and hope he invites you,
because that's the only way
you're going to get in.
Last weekend, a couple of
American flat track racers—2013
Grand National Champion Brad
Baker and Sammy Halbert—got
the golden invite to have a go at
the ranch and ride with the nine-
time world champion and the
VR46 Riders Academy.
It was a day to remember
for both Baker and Halbert, as
they received full-VIP treatment,
which meant also having lunch
at Rossi's restaurant in Tavullia
before the on-track festivities
began.
"It was an incredible experi-
ence," Baker said, "just the pre-
game leading up to it of having
lunch at his restaurant in Tavullia
and seeing all the #46 banners,
and basically just how behind
him that whole town is. [And
there is] getting to the ranch
and how you come down into
a valley—and then you see the
racetrack! It's a beautiful track
with beautiful surroundings.
"We only had a couple
hours," Baker added, "maybe
two hours, if that, by the time
we got on the track to really get
familiar with [it] and also change
some things on my bike to try to
get the thing to work better and
get a little bit more traction. Ob-
viously it was just a fun day and
that's what it was all about." CN
PHOTO
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
