So, what do MotoGP riders do during the summer break? Well, while some spend time relaxing at holiday resorts, and others are hard at work recovering from their injuries, Nicky Hayden will be going racing. Racer X, the motocross magazine and sister publication to the excellent RoadRacer X magazine, has confirmed that Hayden will take part in Saturday's AMA Supermoto race to be held at the X Games this weekend.
The race will be run at 4 PM PST on Saturday, August 2nd, and will be shown on live television, on the ESPN network. Hayden has qualified in 15th position.
Hayden has considerable prowess as a Supermoto rider, and spends a good deal of time practicing the art when staying at his California home with his brothers. The combination of sliding and corner speed makes it an excellent discipline for honing racing skills, which is why a lot of road racers use it to keep their skills sharp.
As a taster for Saturday's race, here's a great video, in which Nicky Hayden and Max Biaggi get to show off their skills:
Comments
Hayden may be out before it starts...
Word is his ankle was hurt and he won't make the start. No confirmation yet....
-jim
Hayden was out
I get the feeling the ankle was just a polite excuse. If you watched the race, it was like no motard racing I've seen in the past. They changed the track to include flying-in-the-air supercross style jumps and all sorts of other stuff, all forms of risk that Nicky dare not risk given there's still half the season to go, and next year's contract coming up.
I remember motard racing as being kinda like dirt track - when did all this supercross crap come in?
Good thinking Nicky
I watched it as well and as soon as I saw the track I knew there was no way Hayden was going to be running the race. They ran about half of the supercross track, including at least one triple, and the paved portion included a section made up of polished concrete like you'd find in a garage. Umm, yeah, no thanks.
Oh yeah, they also did a motocross style gated start, in the dirt, on slicks, rather than a staggered row formation on the pavement. More than one of the races had bikes getting tangled on the start in the first corner.
Between the start and the ridiculous emphasis on the supercross-style portion of the track this race was totally stacked in favor of the moto/supercross guys. I can see why the producers did it though, because for the average joe who doesn't understand what he's watching, watching guys jump triples is better TV than watching a guy slide a dirtbike around a few paved corners.
Anyway, I'm glad Nicky chose to stay away.