Nicky Hayden Woes

Sheesh.  Not a good way to defend a title being a back marker.  Admittedly, I am a little surprised and a little disappointed.  It’s hard to defend the 2006 championship as Hayden winning versus Rossi losing.

I’ve actually thought about this a lot over the last couple of days (have I mentioned I have a 45 minute commute?).  From what I have read, these 800cc machines are much more like the 250cc machines, whereas the 990cc versions were more like big-bore WSBK bikes.  The latter would have a small advantage to Hayden.  The former would have a larger advantage to the 250cc GP riders.  This has been demonstrated by the increased corner speed and the increased amount of passing in the corners.  And also, Hayden was in MotoGP for what, three years before he did well.  Maybe he’s not the greatest student and it will take some time to adjust.  Don’t know.

What I do know is that he better get some podiums pretty quick or his legacy will be filed under “fluke”.  I still think that he is a class act and an awesome ambassador for the sport.  But a cool accent and constant smile will only get him so far…well nowhere really in the points race

I think this season, with everyone on new (read: unknown) equipment, has the making of a very exciting year of racing.  We can only hope that it will be like 2006!

6 Comments

[…] Original post by angrybob […]

Comment by Nicky Hayden Woes | April 23rd, 2007 10:21 pm | Permalink

I think everyone is over emphasizing the displacement difference in MotoGP. While the 990s certainly have similarities to 1000cc Superbikes, there’s no way an 800cc machine can be compared to a 250 two-stroke (it has 3 times the displacement and another 100 lbs of weight). I think what we are seeing is how rapidly the manufacturers can respond to new rules and so far this season, a true tire war. This year, several of the mid-pack brands (Suzuki and Ducati), are on a more level playing field. I also think we are seeing a changing of the guard in terms of the top riders. Guys like Elias, Stoner and Pedrosa are hungrier than guys like Rossi, Edwards and Capirossi.

Even though I totally congratulate Nicky on the championship last year, he backed into it (only 2 race wins: home track and an Edward’s freebie). He has the tenacity but not the speed. When was the last time he led a lap?

I’m going to make a future star prediction …. Alvarro Bautista. Last years 125 Champ and running at the front in 250s this year. I like this guys style and he’s got a big smile on his face all the time (he’s enjoying what he does)!

The Rossi era is coming to an end and there are lots of hungry youngsters coming up to take their place.

Very exciting!

Rhino

Comment by Anonymous | April 24th, 2007 8:45 am | Permalink

Gonna be Rossi in ‘07 I’m happy to say :)

….And I’m from Kentucky

Comment by Dale | April 30th, 2007 6:40 pm | Permalink

Dale,

Don’t count your chickens just yet …..

Rhino

Comment by Anonymous | May 1st, 2007 10:40 am | Permalink

Guys, stop selling Nicky short!

1) Nicky won last year because he was the most *consistent* rider. This isn’t a single race event. it is many races over serveral months, and consitency is a key ingredient.

2) Why does Nicky’s win have to be a fluke? Why can’t it be that this year (at least the start of this season) is the fluke?

Comment by Double 'Oh' Busa | May 2nd, 2007 4:45 pm | Permalink

It’s a fluke because his previous 3 seasons showed his true form….1 win!

Comment by Anonymous | June 5th, 2007 8:54 pm | Permalink

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Live Comment Preview

Comment by Somebody

Powered by WordPress 2.3.1    Rendered in 15 queries and 0.323 seconds.    CleanBreeze Theme   
   

Bad Behavior has blocked 1201 access attempts in the last 7 days.