Along with Ben Spies, he went on to score MotoGP, WSBK and AMA SBK race wins. We remember the nicest bloke in all three paddocks, Nicolas Patrick Hayden
If there is any solace to be found in the passing of 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden, it’s that he probably didn’t feel any pain, and possibly never knew what had happened. It’s the very least the popular American racer deserved.
What he didn’t deserve was to lose his life aged just 35 because of something so prosaic as getting knocked off his bicycle by a mid- sized hatchback on the public road near the Misano circuit at 2pm on Wednesday, 17 May 2017.
He was a man who had challenged the gods and come out winning, even when it went wrong. A man who had even beaten Valentino Rossi to the world championship.
And a man who was not only admired by everybody who met him, but actually loved. Very widely so.
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- Nicky, Tommy and Roger Lee Hayden, Valencia MotoGP Race, 2004
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- Hayden, Phillip Island MotoGP Test, 17-19th February, 2005
Nicky was a rare creature in a world where rampant egos vie with blatant attention-deficit personalities, and where kindness and good manners are generally subservient to ambition and greed. His smile said it all.
News of the ultimately fatal accident brought forth an outpouring of tributes, support and affection, from every quarter – from Rossi himself to fans worldwide who had never met him.
I was lucky to have done so, frequently and regularly over his 13-year grand prix career. Several things stood out: his determination, his work ethic, and his racing talent. And one thing that made him almost unique – the fact that he wasn’t interested only in himself. Every question you asked, he’d ask one back about you.
Read the full tribute in the current issue of AMCN on sale now
