What do you REALLY think of Nicky Hayden:

[denill]

There were a number of varying comments as to the ability of the current World MotoGP champion!

So now we are heading to the MotoGP kick-off - just what do you REALLY think of Nicky Hayden's ability?? ie: Where will he finish in '07??

[James Deuce]

Whatever comments anyone makes, Nicky won the World Championship last year and no one else did.

[Pwalo]

OK I'm a Rossi fan, so I'm biased, but Nicky Hayden got the points.

He held his nerve pretty well at the end of the year as well.

This year I'd back Rossi, of course. I think that you'd be a fool to write Hayden off completely, but I think that he'll struggle if the Doctor finds a bit of consistency this season. Mind you everyone will struggle if this happens!

[riffer]

Exactly Jim.

But he will come 5th this year.

After Pedrosa, Hopkins, Rossi, and Melandri, in that order.

[denill]

Whatever comments anyone makes, Nicky won the World Championship last year and no one else did.


Hey Jim, you either haven't voted yet - or you don't think he will win this year.

I think he will come 3rd. Rossi will win and, ummm maybe Pedrosa,Melandri, or even Edwards, or someone else we be 2nd.

[Korea]

I'm thinking that we'll see a return to Rossi's 2005 effort this season:


In 2005, Rossi captured his 7th World Championship and 5th straight MotoGP Championship. He finished with a total of 367 points, an incredible 147 points ahead of 2nd place finisher Marco Melandri (220 pt), and Nicky Hayden finishing 3rd with 206 points.
...but of course it will be closer on the 800s.

Nicky will be fast, no doubt, but competition from Melandri and Pedrosa is going to see him relegated to 4th; best case scenario.

We'll see how the season unfolds - roll on the weekend!

[vifferman]

Where's the "Who gives a rodent's rectum?!?" option?

[vifferman]

Whatever comments anyone makes, Nicky won the World Championship last year and no one else did.


Ah... that's not actually true.
Rossi lost the World Championship.

[Motu]

http://blogger.xs4all.nl/daisy/articles/189145.aspx

Kropotkin gives the best MotoGP coverage I've seen,it's a long article,but damn good.

The bikes are going to suit Pedrosa more this year - so Rossi will direct his attention there...on and off track.He is going to do a Sete on Pedrosa and demolish him mentaly.This puts Nicky in a good position to do what he did last year - work quietly in the background racking up podiums every meeting,hopefully some will be on the top step.I don't think he would hold up to Rossi's dedicated onslaught to regain his title....but maybe he won't have to.I think Edwards will be up front where he should be this year too.

[skelstar]

Isn't this essentially moot? Who really has a decent grasp of what the differences are between the performance of the bikes?

[Maido]

IMO.....

Providing Yamaha can build a good package this year (initial test are good, but remember the mechanical DNF last year and tyre faults) I would expect this year to be the year that Rossi actually shows what a rider he is, not from buggering off and winning by 30 seconds but by winning, what I think will be, a season of some of the closest racing you will ever watch.
I think Hayden has done it hard, slowly getting up to pace, but always finding that next level and not dropping away from it (unlike some riders who hit and miss sometimes). I think once he finds pace and rythem he will be very consistant (not fast sometimes like pedrobot) and it would only take a few DNF's to alter the championship.

Realistically I see him 3rd this year.

[vifferman]

It's all pharkeen academic, as I don't have Sky, so I won't be able to see it.
Bugrit (millenium hand 'n shrimp...)

Speaking of which:
Does anybody what does have Sky TV be willing to tape / record to disk the MotoGP for me? I will/am be willing to pay some shekel-dollars for this service. Plus you can have some/all of my kids. And all my gotes.

[Shaun]

Nicki will be 2nd place LOOSER

[HenryDorsetCase]

No one gets to be the champ without having some luck, more talent than I will ever have, and a great team and machine blah blah. Its fashionable to bag Hayden but I dont buy that. As someone else said, he was MotoGP champ last year, and no one else was: woulda and coulda just dont matter.

I also think its really good for the sport to have a Merkin as world champ again, and for him to win in the States at Laguna. Lots more exposure for the sport, advertiser dollars and building the brand. Much as I enjoy Nascar (whoops I am sideways at 200mph) MotoGP kicks its arse as a spectator sport.

Hayden seems like a nice enough bloke in the interviews Ive read. Cut him a break.

also, Yay for HRC!!! :first: :first:

[vifferman]

Dude, what you said sounded quite sensible and well-considered, until you said, "Much as I enjoy Nascar". That totally blew any credibility you had. Even my Murkn friends don't like NASCAR. No, not even the guy who rides a VFR and runs a NASCAR team.

Speaking of which:
Does anybody what does have Sky TV be willing to tape / record to disk the MotoGP for me? I will/am be willing to pay some shekel-dollars for this service. Plus you can have some/all of my kids. And all my gotes.

[HenryDorsetCase]

Dude, what you said sounded quite sensible and well-considered, until you said, "Much as I enjoy Nascar". That totally blew any credibility you had. Even my Murkn friends don't like NASCAR. No, not even the guy who rides a VFR and runs a NASCAR team.

Speaking of which:
Does anybody what does have Sky TV be willing to tape / record to disk the MotoGP for me? I will/am be willing to pay some shekel-dollars for this service. Plus you can have some/all of my kids. And all my gotes.


Im coming for the gotes, OK.

Nascar is cool. the races are only 2 minutes long and are filled with incident and not much injury. I know, Ive been watching them on "plays of the week" for years. and theres lots of banging and crashing and in car camera shots.

[Ivan]

Im a Hayden fan and think he is young fast and got a great attitude.
He won the title fair and square if you win becauseof points you still won

Winnings winning

He rode excellent and never cracked under pressure what was it 2 badresultsfrom him last season thats a consistent rider its all good to be fast and crash but crashing dont win you titles consistent finishes do

[Sketchy_Racer]

Hayden Won by consitently doing ok

You can teach a fast rider not to crash, but you cant teach a slow rider to go fast.

Nicky top5

Rossi... Num 1

[NhuanH]

Who really has a decent grasp of what the differences are between the performance of the bikes?
Some monkey looking Italian fella. No, not Melandri.

[Ivan]

Hayden Won by consitently doing ok

You can teach a fast rider not to crash, but you cant teach a slow rider to go fast.

Nicky top5

Rossi... Num 1

he aint a slow rider.
He qualified for moto gp thats abig thing to qualify you aint slow

[JayRacer37]

he aint a slow rider.
He qualified for moto gp thats abig thing to qualify you aint slow

I think in the grand scheme of things, Hayden is a constantly average rider. Yes, he never fall's off, but when have you ever (EVER) stood up and gone "wow, what a great ride, well done that man!!"??

For four years he has had what is conidered to be the best bike in the pack, and he's managed three wins...two at a track that he has a HUGE knowledge advantage at, and one where every other factory rider was injured or out. In four years. That is not spectacular...name one other rider that has one a 500 or MotoGP title with those statistics. Yup, he's finished first in the title, but the other's lost it, he didn't win. Just like a funny little spainard, riding in a similar situation bike wise...Alex Criville.

I rekon Hayden has been gifted his one title, he'll get worse slowly untill HRC ditch him for another rider that'll actually make them look good again. Pedrobot has had his yearsa introduction, it's up to him to take it to Rossi for Honda. And Rossi isn't guna let what happened this year happen again. He'll be in the best mental state of mind ever, I would imagine.
Hayden = 5th.

[gav]

Think Nicky has a message for ya.....

[gav]

Hmm, dunno, this is a real make or break year for Nicky in some ways. Yes, he's won a world title, but the way he won it hasnt really meet universal approval has it. Think its been a bit hard to judge how good or bad his bike was last year.
Apparently it was completely different to every other Honda, and not many have suggested it was actually better than the one all the other Honda guys were on.
Now he's on a level playing field it'll be interesting to see how he goes, Pedrosa may well bolt but think the tyres are going to play a big part, the bridgetsones have really improved and think at quite a few races they will have a better tyre than the Michelin boys, who are now Repsol and Yamaha.
I wouldnt be suprised if the title came down to a two horse race between Rossi and Hayden, I don't think Nicky will be fazed by Rossi's mind games, and will be interesting to see how Rossi responds if Nicky can go toe to toe with him.

[JayRacer37]

Think Nicky has a message for ya.....

Yeap...thats what I mean EXACTLY. He won by numbers only. It won't happen again. Someone with Pizzaz and a will to WIN, not just finish, will come along every year and take it from him. He got lucky. Nicky's the metaphorical accountant...just doing his job, middle of the road, never make a mistake, but never special either. Just a numbers man. And I rekon this'll be the only year he can work with #1.

[roogazza]

I think in the grand scheme of things, Hayden is a constantly average rider. Yes, he never fall's off, but when have you ever (EVER) stood up and gone "wow, what a great ride, well done that man!!"??

For four years he has had what is conidered to be the best bike in the pack, and he's managed three wins...two at a track that he has a HUGE knowledge advantage at, and one where every other factory rider was injured or out. In four years. That is not spectacular...name one other rider that has one a 500 or MotoGP title with those statistics. Yup, he's finished first in the title, but the other's lost it, he didn't win. Just like a funny little spainard, riding in a similar situation bike wise...Alex Criville.

I rekon Hayden has been gifted his one title, he'll get worse slowly untill HRC ditch him for another rider that'll actually make them look good again. Pedrobot has had his yearsa introduction, it's up to him to take it to Rossi for Honda. And Rossi isn't guna let what happened this year happen again. He'll be in the best mental state of mind ever, I would imagine.
Hayden = 5th.

Plus 1 !
Hayden is a front runner and placegetter ! He's no Rossi . Saying that, when you see them in the flesh, they are all look bloody fast. Gaz.

[gav]

Couple of things, how can you be so sure that Hayden has had the best bike for the last 4 years? He's had Biaggi and Gibernau and Barros on it, all struggled the last couple of years. I think the RCV WAS the best, no doubt but after Rossi left I'm not so sure. Without Rossi and Burgess to lead development I think the Honda team lost the plot for abit. Both the Yamaha and Ducati I think have had a better package the last couple of seasons.
Hayden has had to try and develop a new bike, so new that his mechanic says everything is different and no parts interchange with what Pedrosa and the rest rode, sounds hard to believe but thats what he said....
He also found himself leading the points lead, what was he suppose to do, ride for the win on a bike that possibly had some frailities (clutch) or rack up points?
How many wins did Kenny Roberts jnr have when he won his 500cc title? Don't look it up, do you know off the top of your head? Does it matter?? Does his title not count or something?
How come no other rider was able to challenge for the title with the bad luck that Rossi had?
Think Hayden topped the charts for qualifying too didnt he throughout the season? Won a car or something? How did he manage that? Just lucky I guess...
Anyway, damn great to see a Kiwi win a World motoGP title!
(even if he was born in Aus.....)

[denill]

Couple of things, how can you be so sure that Hayden has had the best bike for the last 4 years? He's had Biaggi and Gibernau and Barros on it, all struggled the last couple of years. I think the RCV WAS the best, no doubt but after Rossi left I'm not so sure. Without Rossi and Burgess to lead development I think the Honda team lost the plot for abit. Both the Yamaha and Ducati I think have had a better package the last couple of seasons.
Hayden has had to try and develop a new bike, so new that his mechanic says everything is different and no parts interchange with what Pedrosa and the rest rode, sounds hard to believe but thats what he said....
He also found himself leading the points lead, what was he suppose to do, ride for the win on a bike that possibly had some frailities (clutch) or rack up points?
How many wins did Kenny Roberts jnr have when he won his 500cc title? Don't look it up, do you know off the top of your head? Does it matter?? Does his title not count or something?
How come no other rider was able to challenge for the title with the bad luck that Rossi had?
Think Hayden topped the charts for qualifying too didnt he throughout the season? Won a car or something? How did he manage that? Just lucky I guess...
Anyway, damn great to see a Kiwi win a World motoGP title!
(even if he was born in Aus.....)

So where do you think he'll finish this year Gav??

[denill]

Day One in Qatar provided the following (interesting) results.
Look where Rossi and Hayden are in top speed???

Day One Finishing Order in FP1
1. Rossi - Yamaha - 1m56.464
2 Edwards - Yamaha - 1m56.779
3 Stoner - Ducati - 1m56.839
4 Hopkins - Suzuki - 1m56.972
5 Checa - Honda - 1m56.981
6 Pedrosa - Honda - 1m56.990
7 Melandri - Honda - 1m57.112
8 Capirossi - Ducati - 1m57.247
9 Elias - Honda - 1m57.382
10 Nakano - Honda - 1m57.574
11 Barros - Ducati - 1m57.620
12 Vermeulen - Suzuki - 1m57.636
13 De Puniet - Kawasaki - 1m57.686
14 Roberts - KR Honda - 1m57.738
15 Hayden - Honda - 1m57.922
16 Hofmann - Ducati - 1m58.206
17 Jacque - Kawasaki - 1m58.523
18 Guintoli - Yamaha - 1m58.720
19 Pitt - Ilmor - 1m59.930
20- McWilliams - Ilmor - 2m00.125
21 Tamada - Yamaha - 2m00.186

MotoGP Top Speeds in FP1 - km/h
1 Casey Stoner - Ducati - 317.2
2 Loris Capirossi - Ducati - 316.7
3 Alex Hofmann - Ducati - 314.6
4 Alex Barros - Ducati - 313.3
5 Dani Pedrosa - Honda - 311.2
6 Marco Melandri - Honda - 307.8
7 John Hopkins - Suzuki - 307.1
8 Olivier Jacque - Kawasaki - 306.3
9 Colin Edwards - Yamaha - 305.9
10 Jeremy McWilliams - Ilmor - 305.6
11 Sylvain Guintoli - Yamaha - 305.2
12 Nicky Hayden - Honda - 305.0
13 Chris Vermeulen - Suzuki - 304.7
14 Toni Elias - Honda - 303.7
15 Valentino Rossi - Yamaha - 303.7
16 Carlos Checa - Ilmor - 302.6
17 Shinya Nakano - Honda - 302.4
18 Randy De Puniet - Kawasaki - 302.0
19 Andrew Pitt - Ilmor - 301.3
20 Kenny Roberts - KR Honda - 300.0
21 Makoto Tamada - Yamaha - 300.0

[Ivan]

I beleive qualifying is good but its the race that counts

[quattrocchi]

It's all pharkeen academic, as I don't have Sky, so I won't be able to see it.
Bugrit (millenium hand 'n shrimp...)

Speaking of which:
Does anybody what does have Sky TV be willing to tape / record to disk the MotoGP for me? I will/am be willing to pay some shekel-dollars for this service. Plus you can have some/all of my kids. And all my gotes.


Hi. Did you manage to persuade anyone to record the race(s)?
I'm keen to fund this too, as it's the only way I'll see the races.

Brian

[gav]

So where do you think he'll finish this year Gav??
Better than 5th........... :dodge:

[pritch]

Interesting speed figures, but then Ducati were fastest in a straight line last year too. Regarding this Jeremy Burgess remarked to the effect "There's usually just one straight but there are lots of corners."

I remember reading an interview years ago, it may have been Hailwood. He was saying that the first few races were scary as everybody thought they had a chance at the title and was giving it everything they had. It could all get a bit wild. After a couple of races it becomes apparent that in fact there are only a few who have a real shot at it and every body else settles down.

It's looking to be a good year...

I may yet have to get Sky. Bugga!

[sAsLEX]

Think Hayden topped the charts for qualifying too didnt he throughout the season? Won a car or something? How did he manage that? Just lucky I guess...


Racecraft and racing the clock are rather different, Sete was still quick but Rossi had him on the track!

[Deano]

Ah... that's not actually true.
Rossi lost the World Championship.

You calling Rossi a loser ?

Pedrosa, Hayden, Rossi.......:dodge:

[Verity]

We tape all MotoGP and Superbike races, as we don't have a back yard, you can keep your goats. We're happy for them to go out on loan as long as they come back. If interested, send me a PM.

[denill]

Read: Rossi had another look at turn nine again but no matter how agile his machine was on the infield, he had no answer to the 20km/h top speed advantage enjoyed by the Ducati. Stoner won by 2.83 seconds at the flag. And set a fastest lap and race record of 1m 56.528s on that final blistering lap. Dani in third was 8.5 seconds away from Stoner – too far away for consolation.

From my point of view - what a great result!! But hasn't that put the cat among the pigeons? Or is it just goin to be a one off?
As someone also wrote: Jerez hasn't got the long, fast straight of Losail.

PS: Pity I've already voted, as I picked Nicky to finish 3rd in '07??
Not so sure of that now??

[JayRacer37]

Better than 5th........... :dodge:

Revival (I hope)....
Whats the thoughts on Hayden now we have all seen what he seems to be capible of this season??

[quattrocchi]

Revival (I hope)....
Whats the thoughts on Hayden now we have all seen what he seems to be capible of this season??

I see someone who is mediochre and who seems not to be able to ride with determination. Just the way he became Champ last year.

I will say, tho, that he's consistent. Always seems to be at or near the middle of the field. (If all those in front of him were to have great misfortunes delivered upon them then he'll become the Champ again ;)

[James Deuce]

He rode a development mule to the world championship last year. Now he's suffering the same woes as the rest of the Honda riders. In case you guys haven't noticed, the Honda sucks this year. Every Honda rider is struggling to stay in touch with Ducati and Yamaha, and even the Suzuki seems a better package this year.

Honda have screwed up big time and you guys are bitching at Nicky Hayden? They had one test rider last year and he was their lead rider. Typical Honda rubbish. Yet he still won. People don't lose the championship. Rossi didn't score enough points to win last year. Second is the first loser.

I know! We could make the MotoGP championship just like Dancing With The Stars and the viewers could vote for their favourite rider thereby making sure that the "best" rider wins irrespective of who crosses the line first.

Until you're out there "picking up a World Championship because Rossi lost it and you won even though you sucked" you have no idea. Even Mr Lawrence wouldn't see which way Nicky Hayden went on equal machinery (except maybe Classic Racers). Every one of those guys on that grid, even the serial crashers, are phenomenal riders.

[BarBender]

What do you REALLY think of Nicky Hayden?

I think he's half Vulcan.

[BarryG]

I think he still bounces pretty well!
That was some getoff at Le Mans, not much left on the bike when it came to rest. I wonder if they rebuilt it for Monday's tests, or he'd destroyed it well enough to got a new one (probably one positive aspect of the bin!)?
Cheers
Barry

[Sketchy_Racer]

He rode a development mule to the world championship last year. Now he's suffering the same woes as the rest of the Honda riders. In case you guys haven't noticed, the Honda sucks this year. Every Honda rider is struggling to stay in touch with Ducati and Yamaha, and even the Suzuki seems a better package this year.

Honda have screwed up big time and you guys are bitching at Nicky Hayden? They had one test rider last year and he was their lead rider. Typical Honda rubbish. Yet he still won. People don't lose the championship. Rossi didn't score enough points to win last year. Second is the first loser.

I know! We could make the MotoGP championship just like Dancing With The Stars and the viewers could vote for their favourite rider thereby making sure that the "best" rider wins irrespective of who crosses the line first.

Until you're out there "picking up a World Championship because Rossi lost it and you won even though you sucked" you have no idea. Even Mr Lawrence wouldn't see which way Nicky Hayden went on equal machinery (except maybe Classic Racers). Every one of those guys on that grid, even the serial crashers, are phenomenal riders.

So we can't say that Hayden is 'crap' rider, Yet you have the 'inside' knowledge to to say that he isn't.

Test bike or no test bike.

Hondas suck this year? Well he's on the factory backed HRC honda, Which i would like to think would be better than other honda teams bikes, yet he's still finishing well down compared to other hondas.

I have never watched hayden race, and said after "wow, that was a great race"

Rather, "oh, look the goes hayden, going round and round, Oh bugger look now Rossi got knocked off/ tyre feel apart/ engine blew up"

I didn't see haydens 'test' bike having any of those issues to deal with last season..



haha, Im sure Mr Lawrence may beg to differ on that fact... :innocent:

Meh don't really care much, But i think its patently obvious thar Hayden is far from the best rider in motoGP at the moment.

The proof is in the pudding

[James Deuce]

HRC regularly get thrashed by satellite teams. They spend too much effort on trying to prove that riders don't matter, only Honda engineering solutions.

You haven't been watching the Hayden I have. Part of the "problem" is that Rossi is such a huge draw card that TV spends a lot of time looking at him.

[k14]

Yeah it pisses me off when people take a shot at him too. He's really up against it this year and was actually not going too badly till his crash on the weekend. Honda has totally screwed him, designing the 800 100% around their big hope (Pedrosa) who hasn't gone very well at all. They did exactly the same thing when Pedrosa went from the RS125 to RS250. Total bike redesign and some of their riders from previous years couldn't fit on the bike at all cause it was made for a midget.

This combined with the fact that Michelin are struggling this year is just compounds the problems. See the melandri/elias team aren't going as bad as the repsol's. It seems as though thats mainly because they are running bridgestones.

Will be interesting to see if he can beat the midget at leguna, not holding my breath though. Honda has a big uphill battle if they are wanting to win a gp.

[k14]

I didn't see haydens 'test' bike having any of those issues to deal with last season..
Huh??? Which racing were you watching? Go watch the brno race again, lost about 5 places (something like that) in the last few laps due to a slipping clutch to finish around 8th or 9th. This plauged him for the next 2 or 3 races till honda eventually let him run the same clutch all the other guys were running. There were also other instances of him having to run test parts. Thats the reason why rossi left honda, got fed up of having to do testing during races. Not a shit show of any part resembling a test item showing up on rossi's bike now unless its on a test day.

[Ivan]

I very much agree,


If Nicky Hayden hadnt won the world the world title know one would be saying how shit he is goinghe is plagued with bad luck,


China just before the race gets rung up and gets told his cousin was killed racing motorbikes in AMerica.
THen he gets smacked into and taken off track adn regains race and gets 12lth I think?

And last seasonPhillip Island if Rossi passeda bike Hayden would pass it to but not push to hard.


So is James TOseland shit cause he has such a huge lead because of Baylisses bad luck.

I dont think so.

I think theres a reason why he is in HRC its because he is a Fucken good rider

[roogazza]

Featherston huh ! yep !

[Nicksta]

i think he's a hottie.... ;)
sorry, what was the question?
well, for a yank, who apparently dont know how to ride in the wet as they are pansies that way, i think he did pretty good the other day.....
baring some random stuff i put him top 3 with Vale somewhere in there too....

[Sketchy_Racer]

Huh??? Which racing were you watching? Go watch the brno race again, lost about 5 places (something like that) in the last few laps due to a slipping clutch to finish around 8th or 9th. This plauged him for the next 2 or 3 races till honda eventually let him run the same clutch all the other guys were running. There were also other instances of him having to run test parts. Thats the reason why rossi left honda, got fed up of having to do testing during races. Not a shit show of any part resembling a test item showing up on rossi's bike now unless its on a test day.

hmm.

Well i guess considering people say it takes a whole "team" to win, and thats what they gave hayden credit for last year,

Well this year, the 'team' is crap.

If what you say about HRC is true, They are idiots! What are they trying to proove! So far all they have proved is that thier bikes suck, and its a bad reflection on thier riders.

Either way, Im standing by my thought that hayden isn't as good as many of the riders out there. Top 5 rider? yeah.. well maybe.

at the moment its just funny to watch Casey Stoner and Rossi battle it out.
Casey has SO much power!!

I guess in some ways i know how it feels to be in rossis shoes in terms of power.

[Ivan]

Featherston huh ! yep !

What you smoking?:gob:

[Sketchy_Racer]

Its a dig at your useless spelling and grammar skills Ivan.

And don't blame your keyboard.

[denill]

A few have commented on this thread that Pedrosa gets first shot at the Repsol Honda goodies. <a href=http://www.cyclenews.com/ShowStory.asp?HeadlineID=10935>This Article;</A> seems to confirm that!