Michael Scott | May 20, 2017
MotoGP paddock still in shock over Nicky Hayden’s accident
The MotoGP paddock had a somber undertone after the weekend opened with news of Nicky Hayden’s accident and serious injury. Hayden collided with a car while training on his bicycle at Misano Adriatico, and suffered serious head and chest injuries, as well as several fractures.
The 35-year-old was lying in a coma in intensive care at the Bufalini hospital in Cesena.
The pre-race press conference began with the riders, including former team-mates Rossi and Pedrosa, holding a banner reading “Thinking on you, Nicky” (sic).
Rossi led the tributes, saying: “It is very, very bad news. I spoke to a doctor who said the situation is very difficult for Nicky. Nicky was a great rider, a great rival, and specially a really good guy.”
He wrote on Instagram: “He was one of the best friends I had in the paddock;” adding: “The most beautiful thing I have about him is when he gave his hand to me after the unlucky race of Valencia 2015, on the lap of honor. For him it was his farewell to MotoGP, I had just lost the world [title]. [The] supporting look inside his helmet is one of the few positive memories I have of that day. For Nicky, we’re all with you.”
Other riders echoed his comments and admiration, Marquez highlighting the irony of getting injured on a bicycle after taking so many risks racing a motorcycle, adding that cycling fitness would be safer if conducted on a training cycle in a gym.
After qualifying first and second, both factory Yamaha riders pledged to have the best possible race and dedicate it to Nicky. “Unfortunately it is not very important to Nicky, but it is all we can do,” said Rossi.
Hoped-for news of an improvement in his condition did not come.
Instead, while his mother, brother Tommy, fiancée Jackie Marin and members of his Red Bull Honda Superbike team were at his bedside, medical bulletins said the prognosis remained uncertain.
The 2006 World Champion’s friendly nature and generous spirit made him universally popular in the paddock in his GP years, an environment where intense rivalries and rampant egos make this a rare accomplishment. Nicky arrived in 2003 as a factory Honda rider, won the title in 2006, rode a factory Ducati from 2009 to 2013, and a production Honda in 2014 and 2015. He won three GPs among 28 podiums, then moved to World Superbikes, where he also became a race winner.
Footnote: His father Earl Hayden, himself not fit enough to travel to Italy, was obliged to issue a statement after Nicky’s death was reported in a fake news item, taking the chance to contradict many other errors in various reports. He told Roadracing World:
* The family HAS NOT issued a statement that Nicky is dead.
* Nicky IS NOT dead, although he is on life support.
* Nicky was riding his bicycle alone, NOT in a group of 14 riders.
* Doctors DID NOT perform surgery on Nicky.
* Nicky WAS NEVER in an induced coma.
Zarco gets a renewal from Tech3
France’s new hero Johann Zarco – garnering more noise from the crowd than even Rossi – will stay with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team next year, after an early signature to renew his contract.
Both he and team-mate Jonas Folger are on a one-plus-one renewable contract, with negotiations about renewal scheduled for July.
But, according to team owner Herve Poncharal, “after Jerez, both of us said: ‘Why wait until July?’ Now he can go on with this season with less pressure and a lighter brain.”
Zarco said: “I am enjoying an amazing debut and have learnt a huge amount, and the team have now given me the confidence for next year, which is just fantastic. I am very happy but this is only the beginning and I will keep learning and growing so that I can regularly fight for podiums.”
Michelin heeds the call
Calls for a harder front tire have been heeded. From the next round at Mugello, Michelin will be introducing a stiffer construction front tire as the spec tire.
After back to back tests at Jerez, according to a statement from Michelin, “all riders and teams were consulted by Dorna and Michelin and a majority decision was taken to introduce the stiffer construction … available in soft, medium and hard compounds.” The voting was 20 for, and only three against.
Several top riders – including Marquez and Rossi – had complained that the 2017 tire lacked strength, squirming under hard braking and queasy on corner entry. The “new” tire uses a stiffer carcase with the same compounds as the current tires, and was used at the final round at Valencia last year.
Whether it will be a cure for Rossi’s general front-end complaints with the 2017 Yamaha remains to be seen. “We tried the new tire at Jerez, and for me it was not a big difference at the end. It was a bit better.”
Marquez had similar comments. “I felt some potential – something better. I like it.” But Lorenzo was more cautious. “One us better for braking, one has more grip. The best would be to give riders the possibility to have both.”
The issue was thrashed out at a fully attended safety commission meeting. The older “70” tire got the vote, with the three dissenters thought to be Vinales, Lorenzo and Baz.
According to Dorna’s Loris Capirossi: “Like always, some riders are not happy, but we always follow the majority, and there were only three who chose the 06 (2017) tire.”
New surface hits the spot
The fully resurfaced Le Mans circuit won praise for improved grip in both wet and dry conditions from all riders, but still claimed several victims over the two days of practice and qualifying.
The first was Moto3 rider Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA KTM), who rebroke the right collarbone that he smashed before the Qatar GP at the end of Friday’s FP2 session, and was out of the race.
The next eliminated was Garage Plus Kalex rider Iker Lecuona, innocent victim when Jerez Moto2 winner Alex Marquez crashed right in front of him. Spaniard Lecuona also rebroke his collarbone, a repeat of an injury sustained in pre-season testing.
Alex Marquez was also injured in the FP3 crash, with a hairline fracture to one foot, but was able to return to qualify sixth in the afternoon.
Miller’s very, very lucky escape
MotoGP’s Jack Miller, fastest after fitting slicks on a drying track on day one, was lucky to escape uninjured after running off at more than 300 km/h in FP4. He bailed out and emerged merely bruised and shaken: his EG-VDS Honda slammed into the wall and was written off.
“I had some locking on the front through Turn One which sent me towards the wall—and when I saw I wasn’t going to stop in time, I let go,” he said. He suffered bruising to his right hand, and “a football-size” swelling on his right knee.
Miller was in good company, with not only both factory Ducati riders falling in the same session, first Dovizioso then Lorenzo; but with Marquez also falling in FP4 and again at the same first chicane in qualifying. Aprilia’s Sam Lowes and Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha) also crashed in the same session.
New and old faces return
There were two high-profile come-backs at Le Mans, and one interesting newcomer.
The returnees were former World Superbike Champion Sylvain Guintoli and ex-Moto3 champion Danny Kent; the new boy Tarran Mackenzie, British Supersport champion.
Guintoli is subbing for the still-injured Alex Rins on the factory Ecstar Suzuki, and has been asked to make himself available for the next two GPs, just in case.
Currently competing in BSB in Britain, Guintoli pronounced the Suzuki “a beautiful bike”, but had a rather daunting task, having not only to learn the machine but also adapt to Michelin tires. He qualified last, after one minor slip-off on Friday.
Kent was a wildcard riding for his long-ago Red Bull Ajo team in Moto3, having walked out on his Kiefer team Moto2 ride midway through the COTA GP, round three.
He was second-fastest in wet FP2; and qualified tenth. If his role was to put a rocket under the so-far laggardly Red Bull regulars, it worked: Nico Antonelli qualified seventh, and Bo Bendsneyder ninth.
His future is uncertain, but there is a possible replacement job at the RBA-KTM Moto3 team, after Gabriel Rodrigo was injured in practice.
Mackenzie is the son of former 500 GP racer and ex-British champion Niall, and was making his first acquaintance with a Moto2 bike, as Kent’s full-time replacement at Kiefer. So far so good, qualifying 29th out of 31.