Nicky Hayden

[Wild Will]

An excellent perspective from a knowing Brit journo:

http://superbikeplanet.com/2006/Apr/tb/060416x.htm

[DJ Down Under]

It looks like the Kentucky Kid is the only one that can take it too Rossi at the moment...I hope he beats him fair and square one day soon.

DJ

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/motogp/2006/qat/motogp-2006-qat-tm-0313.jpg

[Bones]

Go Nicky!

[geechie]

Nicky, has shown remarkable poise and maturity since he's been in MotoGP. He, as well as Colin and Hopper, makes me right proud of the American contingent.

Did you know that Darrell and Michael Waltrip still think they're the most famous racing family out of Owensboro, Ky? Go figger.

George

[arkline]

Hayden has been very, very steady maturing into where he is now. Just a little bit better every time. The win at Laguna was fabulous, but as far as I can tell Nicky's strongest expletive is "shoot". My daughter would ditch her present main squeeze in half-a-heartbeat for the Kaintucky Kid.

Nicky's problem now, as I see it, isn't Vale the Monkey Boy. Yamaha is having too much trouble setting up his bike (though Edward's bike seems well sorted) It's his teammate, Pedrosa, new to the premier class this year, but definitely not new to MotoGP, hang it all out, style racing. And then there are those Aussie boys. Hopkins and Edwards are doing better all the time, but they aren't yet at the top step. Compared to the Aussies and Pedrosa, Nicky is kind of an "old" man too...

I hope Rossi doesn't Biaggi his way out of MotoGP or racing altogether. But I guess it could happen to anybody...

[DJ Down Under]

Here's some interesting facts about Nicky's chances to win the championship...it looks very good for him.. http://www.motorcycledaily.com/16may06_canrossi.htm

DJ


Does Rossi Still Have A Chance At the MotoGP Championship?
By Alex Edge
With four of the seventeen 2006 MotoGP races in the books, defending champ Valentino Rossi's chance of gaining his sixth premier class world championship (he already has one 500GP and four MotoGP titles) are looking rather bleak. With a 14th-place finish in the first round at Jerez, and a DNF last weekend at Shanghai, Rossi now sits in sixth place in the points race, trailing championship leader Nicky Hayden by 32 points.

To get a better idea of how this affects Rossi's championship hopes, you need to look at a breakdown of the current points standings, as well as the # of points gained for each position:

2006 MotoGP World Championship Points Standings (after 4 of 17 rounds)
Nicky Hayden (Honda) 72
Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 59
Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 57
Marco Melandri (Honda) 54
Casey Stoner (Honda) 52
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 40

World Championship Points Awarded by Finishing Position:
25
20
16
13
11
10
9
8
7
6
Considering the large number of races yet to run, it is certainly conceivable that Rossi could recover from his current points deficit and take the title. However, considering the remarkable consistency recently shown by Nicky Hayden (he has finished on the podium 8 races in a row - all four 2006 races, and the last four 2005 races), it seems unlikely that he will sit idly by and allow Rossi to rapidly close the gap. Not to mention the speed shown recently by some of the MotoGP class' newest contenders - particularly Dani Pedrosa, who is also unlikely to give Rossi any easy runs to the top of the podium.