Nicky Hayden aboard his Honda RC51 in 2002
We have been gushing about Nicky Hayden’s talent for some time. Take a look at our article on October 1, 2001 suggesting Nicky, then age 20, was ready for World championship competition and should leave AMA road racing.
If you haven’t followed Hayden’s development as a rider (I have), you may still be wondering why Honda took Nicky directly to the Repsol factory team in MotoGP as a rookie. The US division of Honda Motor Company reportedly pushed for Nicky to get that job, and multi-time World champion Freddie Spencer surely recommended it, as well. Spencer still has a close relationship with Honda. Spencer also spent some time coaching young Nicky while he developed as an American road racer a few years ago with American Honda.
Surely, it was a risk putting a 21-year-old on the same team with Valentino Rossi, when Nicky had never raced outside the United States before. Nicky is special, however, and Honda knew it. His talent on a motorcycle is up there with past American greats, and he has a calm focus uncommon for his youth.
Nicky surely felt great pressure last year from the press and the fans — many of whom felt he did not deserve his lofty position. He handled it superbly (and characteristically, for him) by taking his time to acclimate himself to a new continent, new race series, new team, new tracks and new bike. He crashed very little, and patiently picked up the pace. This year, he is ready to win.
We certainly wouldn’t pick Nicky Hayden to be World champion in 2004 if Valentino Rossi had stayed with Honda. With Rossi on a new team, however, almost everyone agrees that the MotoGP series is wide open, with several potential champions. We may be going out on a limb picking a sophomore rider, but we think Nicky will make another big step forward this year and, with the support of Honda’s top team, capture the World MotoGP championship.
