Enjoy the 69 photos to summarize the life of Nicky Hayden, pilot and person
First steps
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Childhood of Nicky Hayden
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Nicky Hayden running on dirt
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Childhood of Nicky Hayden
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Nicky Hayden and 1999
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Photo de: Richard Sloop
Nicky Hayden, on a Honda
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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Colin Edwards, Honda, James Toseland, Ducati, Nicky Hayden, Honda
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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Nicky Hayden with 21 years
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Photo by: Richard Sloop
Nicky Hayden on a factory Honda
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Photo by: Richard Sloop
Nicky Hayden, John Hopkins, Kenny Roberts Jr. y Colin Edwards
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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Nicky Hayden en Motegi
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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Nicky Hayden con el Repsol Honda Team
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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden
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Photo de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Makoto Tamada, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Gauloises Fortuna Racing
Nicky Hayden in 2005
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Photo by: Repsol Media
Nicky Hayden in Laguna Seca
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Photo by: Repsol Media
Nicky Hayden with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi
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Photo by: Bob Heathcote
Nicky Hayden in 2005
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Photo by: Repsol Media
Nicky Hayden vs. Valentino Rossi
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Photo by: Repsol Media
Marco Melandri with Nicky Hayden y Valentino Rossi
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Photo de: Gresini Racing
Valentino Rossi, with Nicky Hayden second and Loris Capirossi
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Photo by: Repsol Media
Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Camel Media Service
Nicky Hayden y Colin Edwards
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Nicky Hayden celebrating his victory in 2006
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Photo by: Todd Corzett
Nicky Hayden y Casey Stoner
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Foto de: Repsol Media
Podium: champagne for Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Repsol Media
2006 MotoGP World Champion
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Photo by: Repsol Media
Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa
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Photo by: Honda
Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Yamaha Motor Racing
Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden y Anthony West
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Foto de: Yamaha Motor Racing
Nicky Hayden in Laguna Seca (2007)
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Photo by: Bob Heathcote
Nicky Hayden in Valencia
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Photo by: Honda Racing
Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden in Indianapolis
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Photo by: Jim Haines
Casey Stoner y Nicky Hayden
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Foto de: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden y Casey Stoner, Ducati Marlboro Team
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Foto de: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden in Ducati Marlboro Team colors (2009)
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team
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Foto de: Bridgestone Corporation
Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team
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Foto de: Bridgestone Corporation
Colin Edwards, Alex De Angelis and Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team
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Foto de: Ducati Corse
Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden
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Photo by: Yamaha Motor Racing
Nicky Hayden in Portugal (2010)
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden at the presentation of the Ducati Desmosedici GP11
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden celebrating his third place
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Fall in November 2011
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden in May 2012
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden in Indianapolis
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden in Aragon (2012)
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden in France (2013)
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden with Andrea Dovizioso
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Photo de: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden’s team prank in 2013
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Nicky Hayden en Australia (2014)
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Foto de: Bridgestone Corporation
Nicky Hayden, Drive M7 Aspar Honda
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Foto de: Bridgestone Corporation
Nicky Hayden, Aspar MotoGP Team
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Photo de: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Nicky Hayden announces his retirement in 2015
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Photo by: Aspar Team
Nicky Hayden, Honda WSBK Team
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Nicky Hayden, Honda WSBK Team and Leon Camier, MV Agusta
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Podium: Winner Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing, Second Place Chaz Davies, Ducati Team, Third Place Nicky Hayden, Honda World Superbike Team
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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Nicky Hayden, Honda WSBK Team
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Photo de: SBK Superbike International ltd.
Podium: Race Winner Nicky Hayden, Honda WSBK Team, Second Place Davide Giugliano, Ducati Team, Third Place Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing
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Photo by: Honda
Third, Nicky Hayden, Honda World Superbike Team celebrates
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Photo by: James Holland
Podio: Third place Nicky Hayden, Honda World Superbike Team
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Photo by: Ken Weisenberger
Podium: Winner Chaz Davies, Ducati Team, Second Place Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing, Third Place Nicky Hayden, Honda
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Photo by: Kawasaki Racing Team
Nicky Hayden, Estrella Galicia 0.0 Marc VDS
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Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Nicky Hayden, Repsol Honda Team
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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Nicky Hayden, Honda World Superbike Team
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Foto de: Honda Racing
Nicky Hayden, Honda World Superbike Team
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Foto de: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Next, the explanation of each photo of the life of Nicky Hayden:
- Born July 30, 1981, Nicky, crouched here, is the third of five children born to Rose and Earl Hayden, brother to Tommy, Jenny, Roger Lee and Kathleen.
- “I don’t remember a life before the motorcycle,” said Nicky Hayden back in the day. Under the impetus of parents viscerally passionate about two wheels, the “Earl’s Racing Team” was born.
- As a child, Nicky Hayden became a great dirt track specialist. Since childhood he used the number 69 with which his father ran.
- Having made his mark on the land, the boy from Kentucky (The Kentucky Kid) made his debut on circuit and, in particular, at the CMRA.
- Hayden won the Supersport title in 1999, as a privateer, then moved on to Superbikes and became a factory Honda rider.
- He won the AMA Superbike title in 2002 on a Honda RC51, thanks to nine wins during the season. At 21 years old, he broke the record in that competitive championship.
- At Laguna Seca he did better, as in addition to his AMA program, Hayden entered WorldSBK as a wildcard. He finished fourth in Race 1, half a second off the podium, and then 13th in Race 2 after a crash.
- Nicky Hayden entered the MotoGP paddock at the age of 21. This time it is no longer an invitation, but his true international debut.
- He made his Grand Prix debut on a Factory Honda. For a year, he honed his skills in the Valentino Rossi team.
- The four riders who defended the colors of the USA in the 2003 MotoGP season.
- Following his first two top-five finishes at the Sachsenring and Rio, Hayden earned his first reward at Motegi.
- Two weeks later at Phillip Island, Hayden shone with a crazy race finish, passing Tohru Ukawa and then Sete Gibernau.
- He finished his first season fifth in the championship and as rookie of the year.
- In 2004 he signed two more podiums, but some misadventures and a broken collarbone made him lose points.
- His start to the season is, however, discreet, as he had to wait for the sixth round to break into the top 5.
- In California, the talent of the Kentucky Kid exploded: he signed the only double with the pole and victory of his career.
- Nicky Hayden celebrates his victory with Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi
- He finished the season strong and was on the podium five times in the second half of the championship.
- In Valencia, he beat Valentino Rossi.
- For the first time, he is among the top three in the championship, behind Rossi and Melandri.
- Nicky Hayden begins the 2006 season with four consecutive podium finishes.
- The season is particularly hotly contested and Capirossi, Melandri or even the newcomer Pedrosa are among his strongest opponents.
- And then there’s Valentino Rossi… The Doctor has had his ups and downs, but a hot summer run kept him in touch with the championship leader.
- Hayden and Edwards put on a great show at Assen fighting to the last chicane. The Texan ended up falling and the Kentucky Kid had his second success in MotoGP.
- A month later, he made a triumphant return to Laguna Seca
- The following weeks are more complicated. Harpooned by his teammate Dani Pedrosa, he lost the lead in the championship two weeks before the curtain fell.
- Five points ahead of the Doctor, Nicky Hayden is World Champion!
- Seventh American to be crowned in 500cc/MotoGP
- In 2007, faithful to Honda, he rode an RC212V upgraded to 800cc.
- Difficulties begin for the current World Champion, who struggles to find his level on the handlebars of a motorcycle that does not suit him.
- He found the podium at Assen, then doubled the lead at the Sachsenring by beating Colin Edwards.
- This time, Laguna Seca does not smile at him. Contact with Hopkins on the first lap ended his hopes of a repeat victory.
- Despite a final podium finish in Brno, Nicky Hayden has not found success. The return to Valence was less happy than a year before: he relinquished the number 1 World Champion there to Casey Stoner and finished eighth in the championship.
- In 2008 the difficulties were evident and, when MotoGP arrived at Assen, it was already rumored that Nicky Hayden would join Ducati the following season.
- After an absence due to injury, Hayden is at the start of the first Indianapolis Grand Prix, much closer to home than Laguna Seca. Despite Hurricane Ike, he found his way to the podium there.
- He finished the season strong with a string of top 5 finishes and a second podium finish in Australia.
- After ten years at Honda, 2009 marked his arrival at Ducati, alongside his successor on the roster, Casey Stoner.
- Nicky Hayden is injured in Qatar and starts the season with a series of disappointing results.
- Laguna Seca gave him wings again and the American entered the top 5 this time.
- Then it was at Indianapolis where he shone, scoring his only podium finish of the season.
- Despite two new top-five finishes at the end of the season, he finished 13th in the championship, his lowest ranking before entering the Open era.
- The 2010 season started much better than the previous ones, with a run of three fourth places. However, their performance will tend to stagnate.
- His feat of the season is a podium finish in Aragón, achieved by stripping Jorge Lorenzo of third place on the last lap.
- With seventh place in the championship and a total of 163 points, this will be his best season with Ducati. His teammate Casey Stoner sits fourth and is about to join Honda.
- Nicky Hayden meets his first teammate in MotoGP and also his rival in the race for the title, Valentino Rossi.
- An always complicated season that only earned Nicky Hayden a podium, the last in Grand Prix, in the form of a third place in Jerez.
- The wrist is injured in Valencia (2011).
- Just like the year before, Hayden started the 2012 season on a consistent scoring streak. The gap with Rossi grows, with Hayden ahead of the Italian by two points.
- The Indianapolis GP put a stop to his progress: a serious accident in qualifying earned him a new fracture in his right wrist.
- After two more falls, in Aragón and Valencia, he finished a season for the first time without getting on the podium, in ninth place in the championship.
- His last season with Ducati, in 2013, was quite even. He only got into the top 5 once, at Le Mans.
- His new teammate, Andrea Dovizioso, is going through similar difficulties and, if the two engage in a superb duel in Indianapolis, eighth place is at stake, a result that Hayden already achieved in Laguna Seca the previous month.
- After five years with Ducati, the American left the red at the end of 2013.
- Nicky Hayden rejoined Honda in 2014, through the Aspar team.
- His wrist problems led him to undergo two operations to restore mobility and to miss five races.
- Hayden is improving physically but his results are maintained until the Open category, where he finished fourth again, this time with the new Honda RC213V-RS.
- After 13 seasons and 216 Grand Prix, Nicky Hayden decides to end his MotoGP career.
- Try to become the first rider to win the MotoGP and WBSK titles.
- His 2016 campaign started in Australia, notably with a fourth place finish in Race 2. He followed that up with another top 5 finish in Thailand, on an unknown circuit.
- It was at Assen, a track where he experienced many highlights, that Nicky Hayden scored his first WSBK podium, a third place finish late in the race when he crashed out ahead of Michael van der Mark.
- The sixth round of the season is in for a surprise… As a deluge swept through the Sepang circuit, Nicky Hayden, who had secured his best qualifying finish so far in the championship with fourth place on the grid, left everyone behind at the start and achieved victory.
- Ten years after his last success in MotoGP, the Kentucky Kid returns to the top step of the podium and signs the first American victory in WSBK since 2009.
- A few weeks later, he was back at Laguna Seca and managed to seize his chance in Race 1. Leading the chasing pack throughout the race, he withstood his team-mate’s attack in the dying moments to salvage third place.
- Ten years later, Nicky Hayden returns to the Laguna Seca podium!
- At the Lausitzring, Hayden returns to the podium and returns definitively to fifth place in the championship.
- The American driver agrees to replace an injured Jack Miller for the Aragon Grand Prix. He adapted as best he could to the Marc VDS team bike and Michelin tires and finished 15th in the race.
- A month later, it is Dani Pedrosa who needs to be replaced. Here is Nicky Hayden back in MotoGP, and also in the official Honda team. He is the only driver to have raced a grand prix after being inducted into the Legend category (when he left at the end of 2015).
- Red Bull is officially committed and on paper all the elements are in place for Nicky Hayden’s double title dreams to come true.
- Nicky Hayden disputes his last races in Imola, a few days before the traffic accident that will cost him his life.
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