NICKY
HAYDEN
SUCCUMBS
TO INJURIES
F
ormer MotoGP World Champion
Nicky Hayden passed away on
Monday, May 22, five days after
sustaining fatal injuries in a cycling ac-
cident in Italy on Wednesday, May 17.
The 35-year-old was involved
in a collision with a car and was
rushed to the Maurizio Bufalini
Hospital in Cesena, Italy, with
severe head, pelvic and abdominal
injuries. Hayden was training in Italy
following the latest round of the
WorldSBK Championship at Imola,
May 13-14, where he campaigned
his Red Bull Honda CBR1000RR to
a best finish of 11th in race two.
"The medical college has con-
firmed the death of the patient
Nicholas Patrick Hayden, recovering
from Wednesday, May 17, in a hos-
pital intensive care unit of Cesena
Bufalini as a result of serious multiple
injuries occurred on that date," said
a statement released by the Maurizio
Bufalini hospital in Cesena, Italy,
May 22.
Hayden was universally popular within the
motorcycle racing community, having excelled in
dirt track competition in AMA Pro Flat Track before
switching to road racing and claiming the AMA
Supersport and Superbike titles. He switched to
MotoGP in 2003 with the Repsol Honda outfit as
teammate to Valentino Rossi and would go on to
win the 2006 MotoGP World Championship after
a last-round fight with Rossi.
Hayden's MotoGP career would see him race
factory Honda and Ducati machinery, before
switching to production Hondas for his final two
years. In 2016, the man affectionately known
as the Kentucky Kid switched to the WorldSBK
Championship, taking a race win in the rain at
Malaysia in only his fifth round.
Hayden's Red Bull Honda World Superbike
Team issued this statement:
It is with great sadness that Red Bull Honda
IN
THE
WIND
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