15 years of Nicky Hayden's world championship at the 2006 Valencia GP

On October 29, 2006, when the lights went out on the starting grid of the MotoGP race at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Valentino Rossi hoped to take his sixth consecutive title as world champion in the premier class. He was leading the overall standings for the first time since the spring, and that Nicky Hayden had just relinquished the lead to the Italian star two weeks earlier in his first DNF of the season.

After falling while being dragged by his teammate, Dani Pedrosa, in Portugal, Hayden looked helplessly and furiously at his rival from the pits. With a second place close to Toni Elías (in the tightest finish in MotoGP history), Rossi took first place and arrived in Valencia with an eight-point advantage. The trend of recent races spoke largely in favor of the Italian, who had racked up five straight podium finishes while the Kentucky Kid hadn’t finished in the top three since his win at Laguna Seca six races earlier.

Nicky Hayden did not reveal it beyond his inner circle, but he started that race in Valencia with a broken shoulder, as well as an old crooked plate, two consequences of that crash in Estoril. Not to mention that: it was not about giving any psychological advantage to his rival, although he probably did not need it given that he had been invincible in the championship since 2001.

“All in!”, Hayden’s bet in Valencia 2006

The American’s philosophy was simple: play it all, as indicated by his jumpsuit, in which the traditional message of his nickname was replaced by the design of a poker game and the words “All in” ( you can see that jumpsuit in the photos of the end of article ). He did not lose hope, he knew that he was risking the fate of his life after having fought throughout his career with the sole objective of becoming World Champion, a childhood dream that seemed unrealistic in his childhood in Owensboro, and in the starting grid told the commentator who wanted to inquire about his state of mind: “It’s an incredible opportunity, man! The stands are full, there is not a single seat left, there are 130,000 fans and we are playing for the title. I have been saying all weekend: I’m going for it, I have to go for the victory.

Playing it all means surprising from the start, and he started better from fifth place than Rossi, who started from pole. #46 missed and blocked, with a little touch with Hayden, while Troy Bayliss took the lead. The Australian was there as a guest, called in to replace the injured Sete Gibernau , on a Ducati he had never seen before and fitted with tires he had never tried before. At the end of the first lap, the #69 Honda was fourth and the #46 Yamaha was seventh. It was a slow start for Rossi, but the title still belonged to him at the time.

Casey Stoner and then Loris Capirossi saw Hayden get the better of them. Then, on the third lap, it was his teammate who didn’t resist when he tried to pass him. The American was already second, while Rossi was still stuck in seventh place, and the provisional classification was now in favor of Hayden. At that moment, the American was keeping pace with the leader, a serene Troy Bayliss, but behind them the differences were still minimal.

The calculators were activated frantically, and all the scenarios went to the heads of the members of the teams of the two applicants, with one thing in common on both sides: the 30 laps of that race would be endless. However, the championship changed very quickly in stage 5 when Valentino Rossi lost control of his Yamaha and ended up on gravel. The Repsol Honda grandstand couldn’t believe it, but those more than 130,000 spectators that Hayden had spoken about at the start witnessed the unthinkable: Rossi had collapsed.

Fall of Valentino Rossi

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Photo by: Yamaha Motor Racing

Fall of Valentino Rossi

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Photo by: Yamaha Motor Racing

Fall of Valentino Rossi

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Photo by: Yamaha Motor Racing

Hayden had never been so close to his dream and he still had 25 laps to go. The #46 got back on the bike and continued the race, trying to score points, while the American could not afford to crash as well, something that would put him out of the fight. After overtaking Capirossi, Hayden remained in third position, leaving Ducati facing a one-two finish that, at the time, went somewhat unnoticed. That day he arrived at the checkered flag with what was important to him: well ahead of Rossi (who was 13th) to take five points from him in the final classification of the championship and take the title. Yes, five points, just the ones that Rossi lost when Toni Elías beat him two weeks earlier by two thousandths.

“It’s pretty horrible, because we managed to recover a lot of points but in the end we lost,” commented a Rossi as incredulous as everyone. “It was a difficult race, we had problems and I made a mistake at the start and then another when I crashed. I didn’t understand why I crashed, but when you crash it’s always a mistake.”

Capable of doing his best and worst that year, Valentino Rossi was not up to the task he needed throughout the season. At the age of 25, Nicky Hayden won the ‘Holy Grail’ thanks in particular to his two victories ( Assen and Laguna Seca ) and his perseverance in the face of the Doctor’s three retirements. On October 29, 2006, he became the seventh American to be crowned in the premier class and remains, to this day, the last.

As the #69 arrived at Parc Fermé in jubilation, Troy Bayliss got off his bike and surprised by saying “easy” in his first comment on his impressive victory. That success, unique for him in MotoGP, would nonetheless go down in the annals as a masterpiece for the Australian, whom Ducati had wanted to reward for his second superbike title.

Two years earlier, the Italian manufacturer had shown him the exit door of the world championship, leaving him with some bitterness with the senior team officials. But that unexpected comeback and the ease with which he dominated that race were enough to earn him a spot forever.