FEATURE
NICKY HAYDEN MEMORIAL
P120
years we fought for the title down
to the last race in Valencia and,
unfortunately for me, he won and
became MotoGP World Cham-
pion. After the race we shook
hands and hugged. Later we
were again teammates during the
(Top) The Kentucky Kid (69) excelled against the best the U.S. had
to offer in the early 2000s. Here, he blasts off the front row at Mid
Ohio in his AMA Superbike title year of 2002 against Ben Bostrom
(32), Miguel Duhamel (17), Kurtis Roberts (80) and Mat Mladin (1).
(Below) Australia was always a happy hunting ground for Nicky.
Hugely popular with the Phillip Island crowd, he took his first MotoGP
podium there in his rookie year of 2003 alongside race winner
Valentino Rossi and Loris Capirossi. (Bottom right) Nicky with father,
Earl, at the Drake Country Fairgrounds (Greenville, OH) after winning
the AMA 600cc PRO-AM MAIN in August of 1997.
