Nicky Hayden
Nicky Hayden , nome completo Nicholas Patrick Hayden, detto Trick Daddy o Kentucky Kid (Owensboro, 30 luglio 1981) è un motociclista statunitense.
Correva con il numero 69, lo stesso numero usato dal padre quando correva. Il padre scherzava sempre sul fatto che la scelta di quel numero era dovuta al fatto che fosse leggibile anche a valle di una caduta. Dopo però la conquista del titolo di campione MotoGP del 2006 ha deciso di gareggiare nella corrente stagione con il numero 1.
Fin da bambino si dedica alle moto, correndo nei circuiti cross; passa poi alle derivate di serie, diventando nel 2002 campione AMA, il campionato USA delle Superbike.
Nel 2003 ha esordito nella classe MotoGP del Motomondiale con la Repsol Honda. In quell'anno è compagno di team di Valentino Rossi, l'anno successivo lo è di Alex Barros. Nel 2005 invece viene affiancato da Max Biaggi.
Ad oggi ha corso 47 GP iridati, vincendo il Gran Premio degli Stati Uniti a Laguna Seca nel 2005, il Gran Premio d'Olanda ad Assen e nuovamente a Laguna Seca nel 2006.
Nell'anno 2005 si è classificato terzo nella classifica piloti MotoGP. Conta in tutto 10 podi, 3 pole positions e 2 giri veloci in gara.
Campione del Mondo
Il 2006 si rivela una stagione positiva per Hayden fin dalle prime gare. Infatti, grazie ad una serie di nove podi consecutivi e due vittorie (Assen e Laguna Seca) e favorito anche dalla poca costanza e dalla sfortuna dei suoi diretti rivali (Valentino Rossi, Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri), mantiene la leadership della classifica iridata per quasi tutta la durata del campionato mondiale, dal terzo GP fino al penultimo.
A cinque gare dal termine è addirittura a 34 punti di vantaggio dal secondo classificato Daniel Pedrosa e a 51 da Valentino Rossi. Da questo momento inizia però un momento negativo, forse dovuto anche alla troppa pressione; a causa di tre piazzamenti mediocri nelle gare successive, si fa rimontare quasi tutto il vantaggio: a due gare dal termine conserva appena 12 punti di vantaggio dall'incalzante Valentino Rossi. Il suo periodo sfortunato raggiunge il culmine all'Estoril, penultimo gran premio della stagione, quando l'innocente Nicky viene trascinato fuori pista dal suo compagno di squadra Pedrosa e Rossi con il suo secondo posto si porta in testa alla classifica iridata con 8 punti di vantaggio. Questo episodio farà discutere molto sulla politica di rifiuto totale del gioco di squadra adottata dalla Honda all'interno del team, ma soprattutto dalle prese di posizione del manager Alberto Puig che attribuisce la totalità della colpa allo sfortunato americano.
Ma l'ultimo Gran Premio della stagione regala un altro colpo di scena: Valentino Rossi, partito male dalla pole position, scivola nel tentativo di rimontare gli avversari. Nicky si classifica terzo, diventando campione del mondo e rompendo l'imbattibilità di Valentino nella classe MotoGP che, delle cinque stagioni disputate, ne ha vinte ben quattro.
Curiosità
Ha un fratello minore Roger Lee Hayden che corre nella Superbike con la Kawasaki. Ha corso in MotoGP (sempre con la scuderia nero-verde giapponese) , debuttandovi come terzo pilota il 22 luglio 2007 nel Gran premio motociclistico degli Stati Uniti a Laguna Seca, seppure come Wild card.
inoltre ha un altro fratello maggiore:Tommy e due sorelle Jenny(più grande)e Kathleen(la più piccola)
I suoi eroi è Bubba Shobert e Lance Armstrong e Will Davies.
Il suo numero tradizionale è il 69,il numero un tempo del padre,lo usa perchè anche quando cadi lo si può leggere da entrambi i versi.
Nicky è più giovane di un giorno rispetto a Fernando Alonso.
La stagione 2007 nn è iniziata per il meglio e per ora si trova in ottava posizione in classifica mondiale.


ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Nicky Hayden
Nicholas "Nicky" Patrick Hayden, born July 30, 1981 (1981-07-30) (age 26) in Owensboro, Kentucky, also known as The Kentucky Kid, is an American professional motorcycle racer and 2006 MotoGP World Champion.
Beginnings and AMA Championship
As a youth, racing others twice his age in CMRA, Hayden would often start the race from the back of the starting grid while a family or crew member held his bike upright because he could not touch the ground. Later at age 17, he was racing factory Honda RC45 superbikes while still in high school. In 2001, his first full season as an AMA superbike racer, he came within 40 points of winning the championship, behind champion Mat Mladin and runner-up Eric Bostrom. The 2002 season, however, would see Hayden answering the bell: he won the Daytona 200 on a Honda Superbike en route to becoming the youngest ever AMA Superbike Champion, defeating reigning treble champion Mat Mladin, among others. He also entered the World Superbike round at Laguna Seca, but collided with Noriyuki Haga in race 2.
Grand National Championship
Hayden is last of a long line of American road racers to come from the American dirt-track scene. In 1999, Hayden won his first Grand National Championship race (Hagerstown Half Mile) and took Rookie of the Year honors. He was also declared the AMA's athlete of the Year. In 2000, Nicky Hayden won the Springfield Short Track. In 2002, despite racing in just a handful of dirt-track events, Hayden was able to win four races: Springfield Short Track (twice), Springfield TT Steeplechase, and Peoria TT Steeplechase. At the Springfield TT race, the three Hayden brothers took the first three places (Nicky 1st, Tommy 2nd, and Roger Lee 3rd). The win at the 2002 Peoria TT is nothing short of legendary, as he broke Chris Carr's string of thirteen consecutive wins at the venue, depite starting from the penalty line. Hayden only lacks a win at a mile track to join Dick Mann, Kenny Roberts Sr., Bubba Shobert, and Doug Chandler in the prestigious "Grand Slam Club."
MotoGP
Immediately after winning his AMA Superbike championship, Hayden was tapped to join not only Honda's MotoGP racing efforts, but what was arguably the premier team in MotoGP racing- Repsol Honda. Hayden also became teammate to the defending series champion Valentino Rossi, who many believe to be the greatest motorcycle racer ever. Hayden was seemingly unfazed, and in his first year of MotoGP racing (2003), Hayden finished fifth in the championship points standings while riding Honda's RC211V, an achievement that won him the Rookie-of-the-Year award. In 2005, Hayden finished third in the MotoGP championship points standings behind Marco Melandri and series winner Valentino Rossi.
World Championship season
For 2006, Hayden was charged with spearheading Repsol Honda's championship aspirations, and was the only rider to be handed the full 2006 Honda bike during preseason testing. He led the championship from the third race and looked set to break Valentino Rossi's championship-winning streak, which had dated back to 2001. Capturing the championship was not without peril: in the second to last round at Estoril in Portugal, teammate Dani Pedrosa missed his braking point while following Hayden. The resulting lowside accident took out both bikes, with Rossi claiming second place in that race, finishing 0.002 seconds behind Toni Elias. This left Hayden eight points behind Rossi in the championship with one race left to go. In the last race of the season on October 29, 2006, the unexpected happened when Rossi fell off his motorcycle on lap 5 trying to make up for a poor start. Hayden, who was challenging for the race lead at the time, was informed of Rossi's mistake and backed off his lap times by nearly a second, winning the championship by finishing a safe 3rd behind race winner Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi. He thus won the 2006 championship, beating Rossi 252 points to 247.
On September 22, 2006, Hayden signed a two-year agreement that would allow him to race for and develop with the factory Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) team for the 2007 and 2008 MotoGP seasons.[1] He has already begun testing the new 800 cc Honda RC212V. His MotoGP racing number changes from 69 to 1 for the 2007 season.
2007 started badly for him, with the team struggling with performance, and team-mate Dani Pedrosa having the better of the Honda performance. A crash at Le Mans dropped him to 11th in the standings at this stage. However, during testing before Donington, he requested that most of the electronics be switched off and his times improved dramatically. His subsequent performance in a wet Donington and a dry Assen showed a powerful return to form, seriously challenging for first and executing stunning passing manoeuvres around the outside with his trademark controlled sliding and tail-out non-standard lines.
Hayden has two brothers, Tommy and Roger Lee, both professional motorcycle racers in the AMA, and two sisters, Jenny and Kathleen.
Hayden lists Bubba Shobert, Will Davis, and Lance Armstrong as his personal heroes.
His traditional racing number, 69, was the same number his father used. His father jokes that the number was selected because it could still be read when he frequently ended up upside down in the weeds.
Nicky is one day younger than the double Formula One champion Fernando Alonso.
Nicky Facts
NAME: Nicky Hayden
NICKNAME: Trick Daddy and Kentucky Kid
DOB: July 30th, 1981
OCCUPATION: Motorcycle Racer
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WHERE DID YOU GROW UP: Owensboro, Kentucky
WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW: I still live there!
BROTHERS AND SISTERS: 2 brothers, Tommy and Roger and 2 sisters, Jenny and Kathleen
FAVORITE ACTRESS: Jessica Alba, J Lo, Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore
FAVORITE ACTOR: Martin Lawrence and Jim Carrey
FAVORITE MOVIE: Ace Ventura Pet Detective
FAVORITE TV SHOW: 2 Wheel Tuesday and Sportcenter
FAVORITE FOOD: Pizza or Mom's cookin'
FAVORITE SWEETS: Ice Cream (any flavor)
FAVORITE CAR: Bently
FAVORITE PLACE: Panama City Florida during Spring Break
FAVORITE HANGOUT: My lil Bros. house or Mom's kitchen
SPORTS YOU LIKE TO WATCH: Football
SPORTS YOU PARTICIPATE IN: Basketball and Ping Pong
HOBBIES: Riding his XR50, Racing Flat Tracks and Hangin' with friends
FAVORITE MUSIC/BANDS/ARTISTS: Hip Hop / Nappy Roots, Tupac and Eminem
DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS: No, but my Dad has a pig, some horses, llamas and a dog
WHAT YOU LOVE TO WEAR: Anything casual and laidback
BEST HIGH SCHOOL MEMORY: Sophmore year in Mr. Dunn's Biology classŠ I didn't learn much, but had fun!!!
WEIRDEST/ODDEST JOB YOU EVER HAD: Stripping tobacco on my Uncle's farm
GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT/ACHIEVEMENT: Winning the '99 Speedvision Pro Athlete and 2002 Superbike Championship
BEST RACE MEMORY/MOMENT: Finishing on the podium with BOTH my brothers in Springield, Illinois
PERSONAL HEROES: Bubba Shobert, Will Davis and Lance Armstrong
PERSONAL CHALLENGE YOU ARE TRYING TO FACE: To be the World Champion
WHAT YOU WOULD BE DOING IF YOU WEREN'T A PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE: I'd be repairing cars at my Dad's used car lot and I wouldn't be as happy
ADVICE TO UP AND COMERS: Ride hard and often!