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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Hayden On Indy, Ducati
Nicky Hayden field question in advance of his home race, the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Ducati Team's Nicky Hayden (Photo: Ducati Corse)
MODERATOR: Welcome, Nicky, and thanks for joining us today. What about the IMS circuit suits your style? You have finished on the podium here on two very different motorcycles. One was a traditional frame in the Honda and one was a carbon-fiber frame Ducati. What about Indy just kind of jives with the way you ride?
NICKY HAYDEN: Well, unfortunately those results have been a few years ago. The last couple years, I haven't really been able to put up a big fight. I like Indy, I like a track to go left, I prefer. Indy is a great example. It is a track built for cars mostly, and I grew up doing left, and most Europeans grew up going right. I don't think it is a big difference, but I do like going left, and I have had some good opportunities there, and I don't really think about that. I look forward to this year and try to put up a good fight.
MODERATOR: How much difference did the new asphalt make last year for you guys?
HAYDEN: It was a big difference. The old track wasn't too bad, but there were a few spots that were getting pretty bad. It made the track a lot more fun and a lot more fast, and I think it opened up a few places where we can pass. Last year, the track was really rough on tires, and the surface was new and was quite abrasive. But I think with a year on the track, it should be better and be the best that we have ever seen the track.
MODERATOR: We also had rubber laid down on the road course last month with the GRAND-AM cars, and that is the first time that you guys had been there with rubber actually laid down on the road course. It used to be that you guys with the bikes were the only vehicles that raced on it since 2008, so the extra rubber that has been laid down has got to help, too.
HAYDEN: Yes, for sure, to clean it up and get some of the dirt off of it. When you first laid down new pavement, it is natural that it will be sharp and be kind of gritty, but when the tires go around it and start smoothing those edges down and you can certainly have a better grip and less wear on the tires. We will see how it is, and we use a bit different line than those cars, especially going the other way, so we will have to feel it out and see how the grip is. But I don't expect any problems.
Q: I was talking to Colin about the arm pump surgery, and I never knew this stuff existed, and I know that you have had it. Could you talk about how that is like a rite of passage for you guys? It seems like everybody gets it, and Colin said you have to be careful who does it or else you get nasty scars. How is your scar?
HAYDEN: I have got a pretty lengthy scar. So I actually had it done twice. Definitely arm pump is kind of weird, it comes and goes. And is not any clear reason to what has caused it. You can have it at one track and not at another, it can be bike-related, training-related. It doesn't take much to trigger when you are hold on to a 250-horsepower bike and fighting it, especially with these carbon brakes now. We can brake so hard, and the force, especially on the right hand, is a lot. But at the moment, mine is under control, so I don't want to talk about it too much.
Q: The one follow-up I had is since you jumped on the Indian and wore that old racing garb way back when, you kind of have been the spokesman and the front man for promoting this race at IMS. Do you still feel that way even though the results may not have been the way that you would have wanted? Do you still feel like a guy that wants to be the ambassador for promoting this race?
HAYDEN: Oh, I would say so. Of course, MotoGP promotes itself. It is the show, not me. But it is my home race. Laguna is an American round, but my true home race, I have to consider Indy. It is only three hours away, just across the bridge, so a lot more of my friends and family come to the race, and I grew up racing a lot in Indiana. Dirt tracks and even road racing there, so I consider it much more my home. I do enjoy and I do feel some obligation to promote the race and give back to here and there. But once I get there, it is business as usual, and I cannot change my routine too much.
Q: Just wanted to ask you now that you are signed with Ducati next year if you might be able to give an idea of what teams or series you were considering or had been talking to you while you were negotiating?
HAYDEN: Well, my main objective was always to stay in MotoGP. It is the pinnacle of our sport, and that is where I wanted to be and hang in there and hopefully get back to the front. So, of course, I wasn't ready and I didn't know how negotiations were going to go and did have a bit of interest from some other series. But it was nothing that excited me. It was something that I would consider if it got down to it, but I was going to ride something and I wasn't just going to come home and ride the couch just yet. I wanted to do everything possible to stay in MotoGP and it had to get worked out.
NICKY HAYDEN: Well, unfortunately those results have been a few years ago. The last couple years, I haven't really been able to put up a big fight. I like Indy, I like a track to go left, I prefer. Indy is a great example. It is a track built for cars mostly, and I grew up doing left, and most Europeans grew up going right. I don't think it is a big difference, but I do like going left, and I have had some good opportunities there, and I don't really think about that. I look forward to this year and try to put up a good fight.
MODERATOR: How much difference did the new asphalt make last year for you guys?
HAYDEN: It was a big difference. The old track wasn't too bad, but there were a few spots that were getting pretty bad. It made the track a lot more fun and a lot more fast, and I think it opened up a few places where we can pass. Last year, the track was really rough on tires, and the surface was new and was quite abrasive. But I think with a year on the track, it should be better and be the best that we have ever seen the track.
MODERATOR: We also had rubber laid down on the road course last month with the GRAND-AM cars, and that is the first time that you guys had been there with rubber actually laid down on the road course. It used to be that you guys with the bikes were the only vehicles that raced on it since 2008, so the extra rubber that has been laid down has got to help, too.
HAYDEN: Yes, for sure, to clean it up and get some of the dirt off of it. When you first laid down new pavement, it is natural that it will be sharp and be kind of gritty, but when the tires go around it and start smoothing those edges down and you can certainly have a better grip and less wear on the tires. We will see how it is, and we use a bit different line than those cars, especially going the other way, so we will have to feel it out and see how the grip is. But I don't expect any problems.
Q: I was talking to Colin about the arm pump surgery, and I never knew this stuff existed, and I know that you have had it. Could you talk about how that is like a rite of passage for you guys? It seems like everybody gets it, and Colin said you have to be careful who does it or else you get nasty scars. How is your scar?
HAYDEN: I have got a pretty lengthy scar. So I actually had it done twice. Definitely arm pump is kind of weird, it comes and goes. And is not any clear reason to what has caused it. You can have it at one track and not at another, it can be bike-related, training-related. It doesn't take much to trigger when you are hold on to a 250-horsepower bike and fighting it, especially with these carbon brakes now. We can brake so hard, and the force, especially on the right hand, is a lot. But at the moment, mine is under control, so I don't want to talk about it too much.
Q: The one follow-up I had is since you jumped on the Indian and wore that old racing garb way back when, you kind of have been the spokesman and the front man for promoting this race at IMS. Do you still feel that way even though the results may not have been the way that you would have wanted? Do you still feel like a guy that wants to be the ambassador for promoting this race?
HAYDEN: Oh, I would say so. Of course, MotoGP promotes itself. It is the show, not me. But it is my home race. Laguna is an American round, but my true home race, I have to consider Indy. It is only three hours away, just across the bridge, so a lot more of my friends and family come to the race, and I grew up racing a lot in Indiana. Dirt tracks and even road racing there, so I consider it much more my home. I do enjoy and I do feel some obligation to promote the race and give back to here and there. But once I get there, it is business as usual, and I cannot change my routine too much.
Q: Just wanted to ask you now that you are signed with Ducati next year if you might be able to give an idea of what teams or series you were considering or had been talking to you while you were negotiating?
HAYDEN: Well, my main objective was always to stay in MotoGP. It is the pinnacle of our sport, and that is where I wanted to be and hang in there and hopefully get back to the front. So, of course, I wasn't ready and I didn't know how negotiations were going to go and did have a bit of interest from some other series. But it was nothing that excited me. It was something that I would consider if it got down to it, but I was going to ride something and I wasn't just going to come home and ride the couch just yet. I wanted to do everything possible to stay in MotoGP and it had to get worked out.
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