Nicky Hayden Heads to WSBK Championship for 2016 Season with Ten Kate Honda

Honda announces 2016 World Superbike riders Honda has today confirmed the team that will spearhead its campaign in the 2016 World Superbike championship on the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP. Current rider Michael van der Mark will be joined in the team by former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden. Hayden has been riding in MotoGP since 2003 when he joined the Repsol Honda team and the 34-year-old American has since gone on to start more than 200 Grands Prix, scoring 28 podiums and taking three wins. He won the MotoGP title with Honda in 2006. His strong flat-track racing pedigree, which began at the age of three, eventually led him into road-racing and the young Hayden turned professional on his 16th birthday, halfway through the 1997 season. He won the AMA Supersport series with Honda two years later before turning to AMA Superbike in 2000. He became the youngest ever AMA Superbike champion, taking Honda’s VTR1000SP (RC51) to victory in 2002 at the age of 21. Hayden is relishing a return to his superbike roots in 2016 and to continuing his racing career with Honda in the production-based World Superbike championship. Ultimate success in the series would make him the first rider to win both MotoGP and WSBK titles. He will team up for 2016 with Michael van der Mark, one of the most exciting and talented young riders in the series. The 22-year-old Dutch flyer has followed Honda’s rider development programme in winning both the 2012 European Superstock 600 series and last year’s World Supersport championship on Honda’s CBR600RR. Van der Mark won back-to-back Suzuka 8 Hours races in Japan in 2013 and 2014 and has scored three podiums to date in his rookie World Superbike season on the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP with the final round coming up in Qatar on 18 October. The team will begin testing for the 2016 World Superbike championship season in November with two scheduled tests in Spain which will be Hayden’s first opportunity to familiarise himself with his new Honda CBR Fireblade. Nicky Hayden Well, my next stop is Superbike with Honda! I’m very excited, obviously, to stick with Honda; it’s where I’ve had the most success in my career. World Superbikes is a championship that I followed closely as a kid when a lot of American riders were fighting at the front. It just seems like the right time and the right team to go with. I know I’ve got a lot to learn and it’s going to be a big challenge, but also I’m very motivated to start and learn what I can. I’d like to say thanks to everyone who has supported me through my MotoGP career. We had a good run but now it’s time to move on and try something different. Michael van der Mark I’m really looking forward to 2016 already! This season we have made a lot of progress with the CBR and I think that taking my experience on the bike from every track will be a very good base to start from. We’ve really improved the bike even more over the last couple of rounds and that has put us close to the front, which is what we’ve been aiming for throughout the year. The next target of course is a victory but I think that in my second season on the CBR I can be confident that we can make some more podiums and fight for wins. I’m happy to hear that Nicky will be my team-mate next year and I think we’ll be able to learn a lot from each other during the season. Marco Chini – WSBK Operations Manager, Honda We are of course delighted to announce that Nicky Hayden will be Michael’s team-mate on Honda’s CBR Fireblade machine in the 2016 World Superbike championship. The team has worked really hard this season, continuing the development of the bike together with Cosworth’s electronics and we are really happy that this endeavor has translated into strong performances from both riders, particularly in the last few races. These results have demonstrated the great potential that remains in the CBR and I’m happy that they may have influenced Nicky’s decision to join our programme. We are confident that the wide experience he has gained at the highest level of our sport can help the squad to continue the development, the momentum and the team-work that has been established this season and translate that into further positive results. Ronald ten Kate – team manager It’s well known that, at Ten Kate, we always have been and always will be Honda. There is only be one person in the world who could possibly be more Honda than us, and that’s Nicky Hayden! That’s why I’m absolutely delighted that he’ll be joining us for next season. He was AMA Superbike champion with Honda and we’re really looking forward to bringing him back to his superbike roots. By working together and using all our combined resources, I hope that in the future we can make him the first world champion in MotoGP and World Superbike. We are also looking forward to combining Nicky’s experience with young Michael, who has shown really good pace and huge potential on the CBR in his first season. I think you can safely say that I’m more than happy with the line-up we have for 2016! All information © Honda Racing 2015 For more copyright-free media please visit media.hondaproracing.com or email media@hondaproracing.com

Team Drive M7 Aspar's Nicky Hayden Looking Forward to Riding Again in the 2015 MotoGP World Championship

17/12/14. NICKY HAYDEN INTERVIEW

“My main objective for 2015 is to enjoy riding again” Nicky Hayden is currently enjoying a hard-earned rest at home following a long and difficult season. The DRIVE M7 Aspar rider is one of the most experienced men in MotoGP and a throwback to the old-school hard men that inspired him. After what he has been through over the past twelve months, the 'Kentucky Kid' could be forgiven for turning his back on the sport for good but racing is in the Hayden family's blood and nothing can stop Nicky from enjoying his one true passion, which also happens to be his job. As he spends the Christmas period relaxing with his family and allowing his wrist more crucial time to recover, Nicky Hayden's mind remains very much on the job at hand in 2015. First things first - how is your hand and what are you doing to get it back to 100%? I feel better every day. It wasn't easy to get back on the bike after the type of surgery I went through. It was a serious operation, they had to remove three bones from my wrist. I was able to control the pain and ride again, even though I wasn't back to my normal level, but gradually I recovered strength and feeling. It is good for me that the season is over because it's a chance to continue the recovery. Since the end of the season I have been having injections of platelet-rich plasma. I have let my hand rest but I have also been doing a lot of work with the physio. How have the new additions to your technical staff settled in? Are you happy? I am really happy with the new additions. I have a new Crew Chief in Matthew [Casey] and new electronics and suspension technicians. We had chance to get to know each other at Valencia but we couldn't get much work done because of the rain. At least we gathered a little experience with the new bike in the wet. I feel comfortable with the new members of the team, the communication is good and we understand each other well. There is good chemistry between us all and that makes me feel calm and confident. We have a lot of work ahead of us but the initial signs are good. How about your new team-mate? What do you think he can bring to the team? I didn't get much chance to talk to Eugene at Valencia but he seems like a normal kid, very focused on his job. He is coming from a successful career in World Superbikes so I think he will be competitive and I am sure he will adapt his style quickly to MotoGP. I'm also sure there will be a good relationship between the two of us, he comes from a racing family like me and he has two brothers who are both good riders too. What are your first impressions of the Honda RC213V-RS after the Valencia test? My first impressions were positive. Without doubt the biggest thing I noticed was the extra power, as well as the usual reliability and performance characteristics of a Honda. We were able to confirm the development that has been done with this bike so far and now we have to work on it more ourselves to understand it more and unlock its potential. How much potential does this bike have? We will see what level it is at when we ride alongside the others at Sepang. In the meantime I need to focus on returning to full fitness. Do you think the 'Open' bikes will be closer to the factory models this season? Yes, I am sure we will be more competitive in 2015 than we were last season. There is still some development to be done with the electronics but I think we are on the right path. We had a great chassis last season but we were down on power. What are the strong points of the Honda RC213V-RS? The new Honda RC213V-RS has quite a lot of horsepower, which will help us close the gap to the guys at the front. Until we have had more time to test it I can't really give much more of an opinion, but the first impression suggests that we have a solid base to work from. The chassis of the Honda RC213V-RS seems promising… Yes, the new chassis works really well, but so did the 2014 version. It has always been a strong point of the Honda. New bike, new team-mate, new challenge for 2015... what are your objectives? This will be my second season with the DRIVE M7 Aspar Team and my main objective is to enjoy riding again. I don't want to talk about last season anymore, it's over. I am focused on getting back to full fitness, riding like I know I can and getting some good results to put 2014 behind us. Right now I am the only American rider in the World Championship. That's not a fact I like but it is my responsibility to represent my country until the next generation come through. Hopefully I can do the best job possible to make my people proud. What are you plans for the winter break and the Christmas period? Nothing special, just recovering and preparing for my return to action. I really enjoy Christmas, especially now that we have young kids in the family. We have a big family and even though we don't organise anything special Christmas is always a special time. I want to thank my family, my team and my sponsors for the support they always give me. And I'd also like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2015.

Saturday SuperbikePlanet.com Cinema Presents the 2000 Daytona 200 Pre-Race Show

Miguel Duhamel on the #17 American Honda/Dunlop/Jardine/Shoei-sponsored Honda RVT1000R RC51 tries to hold off Aaron Yates on the #20 American Suzuki/Yoshimura/Dunlop/Motorex-backed Suzuki GSX-R750 during the Wiseco Superbike 100 race two at Mid-Ohio on July 16, 2000.  Duhamel's team mate Nicky Hayden, on the #69 American Honda/Honda Riders Club/Pro Honda Oils/Dunlop-sponsored RC51 keeps the duo in sight as he comes up on a lapped rider going into the carousel just past the mid-point of the race.

With just a handful of laps to go, Duhamel would bin it while leading coming out of the Thunder Valley area, and Yates would take his second win of the weekend in the doubleheader round, with The Kentucky Kid following him home to a hard-earned 2nd-place effort.  

The Honda Super Cycle Weekend presented by Dunlop Tire event at the Lexington, OH. facility was in it's 18th running at the northeast Ohio track, but also in the first-ever weekend of running a doubleheader round.  AMA Pro Racing had experimented with the two-race format since the '98 season at the Road Atlanta rounds, and for the 2000 season Mid-Ohio and Road America would be added to the doubleheader slate in what is now a standard for the top-tiered America road racing class, ala World Superbike, but split into two days of the three-day race weekends.

Earlier in the season and a little over 1000 miles south, the AMA Superbike Championship kicked off in Daytona Beach, FL.with the 40th running of the 200-mile classic at the infamous Daytona International Speedway, in the days when the superbike class was the ruling show and still being run on the full, 3.56 mile course.  The race at Daytona had been run for 19 years on the beach course before heading to DIS for the first time in 1961, so technically 2000 would have been the 59th running of the '200.'

Dean Adams from SuperbikePlanet.com has been busy with his video editing skills and has put together another great Saturday diversion with this pre-race show from the 2000 season.  Saturday superbike cinema at it's best.

A big thanks to Dean Adams from SuperbikePlanet.com for this video of the 2000 Daytona 200 pre-race show.  Dean's been around the biz for what seems like forever (I can say that being around as a fan for what seems like forever), and has gone to the trouble of archiving this footage (and many others) from the true glory days of AMA Superbike Championship Series racing.  Thanks for all the hard work man, it's definitely appreciated!

Now kick back with your Saturday coffee--or other beverage of choice--and enjoy the exciting footage of  the pre-race show from the new millennium's first running of the classic Daytona 200.  And enjoy!

Reflections of the 5th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend August 17-19, 2012

The 5th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend saw the first repeat winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when 2010 winner Dani Pedrosa on the #26 Repsol Honda RC213V took home the top honors on a weekend that will be remembered for the Spaniard's second win on the oldest race track in America, but also for the carnage that littered the track and paddock long after the checkered flag had fallen.

Pedrosa is seen at high speed rocketing down the long front straight at Indy during the first practice session of the weekend, where speeds of 208 MPH were recorded during the 3-day weekend in the series' first visit to Indy in the 1000cc era of MotoGP World Championship racing.

Pedrosa's team mate, Casey Stoner on the #1 Repsol Honda (and the defending MotoGP Champion and Indy winner) faired much worse then his double-winning team mate over the long weekend at The Brickyard.  After a seriously nasty highside during the qualifying round that saw the Australian suffer serious ankle injuries, Stoner at first wasn't expected to contest the weekend.  But like the tough competitor he is, the #1 machine soldiered on to a strong 4th-place finish at Indy.

Stoner however had to sit out this weekend's Brno event and is hopeful for the next round at San Marino on September 14-16.  This was Stoner's last trip to the track he loves to hate as he announced his retirement from the sport earlier this summer after the 2012 season.

Honda was one of the many manufacturers on-hand for the 5th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend, and one of theirs and all of the displays that was catching a lot of interest was the new Honda CBR1000RR.

Ben Spies' 2012 season troubles continued at Indy in spite of his 4th-place qualifying effort on the #11 Yamaha Factory YZR-M1.  Elbowz got a monster start at the drop of the green in the MotoGP main event and led a few laps before being passed by eventual-winner Dani Pedrosa.  But while giving chase, the motor expired on the long front straight and was highly reminiscent of his 2012 season in which he has suffered a series of maladies and get-offs.


























On a brighter side for the 2009 World Superbike and 3-Time AMA Superbike Champion, the 2011 Petronas Factory Yamaha M1 that Spies rode at the Laguna Seca and Indy rounds last year graced the Yamaha display in the infield at IMS.  The paint job helped Yamaha celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Andreas Dovizioso continued his season of superior runs on the #4 Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha M1 with a 3rd-place finish at the 2012 version of the Red Bull MotoGP Weekend. Dovi signed between Sunday's Brno round and Indy to ride for the Ducati factory in the 2013 season alongside America's own Nicky Hayden.

You can't talk MotoGP without making a shoutout to and about 9-Time World Champion and 7-Time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi.  The Italian was the first Ducati home at Indy, bringing the #46 Marlboro Factory Ducati GP12 home in the 7th-place spot.

Rossi was also on-hand at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile on Saturday, August 18, hanging out with Tommy Hayden and Chris Carr on the stage as a special guest of Family Events Promotions and AMA Pro Flat Track.  He also went home with his own Harley-Davidson XR750 to ride on his backyard track, and it was reported that Carr helped to broker the deal for the popular MotoGP icon.

Ducati Island at The Brickyard was at the usual level of excitement that is seen amongst the 'Ducatista' fans and one of the nicest displays at the track was set up for the Ducati compatriots and other fans on-hand throughout the weekend.  The display included two street versions of two of the three Ducatis that 3-Time World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss rode to his titles, and a Ben Bostrom #1 Vance & Hines Ducati from the '99 AMA Superbike Championship season.  Can you say drool...............

The #17 Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati GP12 of Karel Abraham and the #69 Marlboro Ducati Factory GP12 enter the garage area at Indianapolis after the end of the first practice session of the weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway-hosted 2012 MotoGP World Championship round.

In another case of two ends of the spectrum, Abraham brought the satellite machine home in the 8th-place spot (and just under 11 seconds behind Rossi) while The Kentucky Kid saw air/sky/ground in a brutal crash during qualifying that saw him suffer serious wrist injuries and miss his first home race in the five years that the series has visited Indy.  It was a sad weekend for fans of the popular former '06 MotoGP World Championship and former '02 AMA Superbike Champion.

Teknic Leathers had one of the coolest displays on-hand in the Gasoline Alley vendors area at IMS, which among others included a pair of Miguel Duhamel's leathers from his season of racing the Harley-Davidson VR1000 in the '94 AMA Superbike Championship and a pair of Kurtis Roberts' leathers from his days with the Erion Racing Honda team in the early '00s in the AMA Superbike Championship.  Alongside are a set of Aaron Yates' leathers from one of his years with the Yoshimura Suzuki team and John Hopkins' leathers from his days with the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP squad.

In what was a joint effort among IMS, AMA Pro Flat Track and Family Event Promotions, the promoters of the 2012 Lucas Oil Indy Mile on August 18, 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Saddlemen Rookie of the Year Brad Baker and Bryan Smith were on-hand Friday afternoon, August 17 to sign autographs for the fans and talk about the next night's great racing at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Scottie Duebler talks with the boys while Baker's #12 Dodge Brothers XR750 and Smith's #42 Crosley/Howerton/Eaken Kawasaki sit on display for the several hundred fans that showed up to talk to the two stars of the greatest racing series on wheels in the world.

For the first time ever, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosted a garage at the Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP round called the Social Media Garage.  Set-up for the fans with several laptops, big screens showing the action and racing simulators, the lounge-like atmosphere was a very cool place for fans to come and hang out and chat with some invitees that were on-hand to cover the action at the track for Twitter, Facebook and their respective websites.

Stu's Shots was one of the five invited guests to this special event, thanks to Cassie Conklin with the Indianapolis Motor Speeway, along with Lance Lau, Terry Hampton, Daniel Lo and Larry Lawrence of The Rider Files.com.  It was due to LL's kind mention of Stu's Shots to Ms. Conklin that we were invited and I owe a big thanks to both for allowing me to attend this special event, which included among other perks full access to any stand in the house and free premium parking and credentials that made it a breeze to enter and exit the track I have been stalking since the spring of '69 when I was just a wee junior high student still living in Iowa.

For what was started this year as an experiment with the Indy 500 and The Brickyard 400, the special event was a big hit with fans and with Stu's Shots.  I was and still am humbled by the invite and the great treatment that was given me and I appreciate the efforts of all in putting this super weekend together!

In a finishing touch to wrap-up the 5th Annual Red Bull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend review, and a shallow and self-serving mode of self-promotion, 'Stu's Shots' was advertised inside the Social Media Garage over the weekend along with the other four invitees with scrolling LED read-outs of each of our respective sites and/or Twitter feeds. 

I'm still not quite sure to know what to do with seeing my name in lights for the first time in my life, but I guarantee you I won't let it go to my head!

Again, a big thanks to the folks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a great weekend of racing and for the special invite.  It was a blast and again a stellar running of another World Class event.

Bravo and thank you!

2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden Sees His 150th MotoGP and Looks to the Future

Mat Mladin on his #1 American Suzuki/Yoshimura/Dunlop/Motorex-sponsored GSX-R750 leads early race two action in the Wiseco 100 AMA Superbike Championship Series round at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH. in July 2001.  Mladin would go on to win his 3rd of three-straight AMA Superbike Championships, and would retire at the end of the '09 AMA Pro Road Racing season after winning his record 7th championship.  Eventual event winner Nicky Hayden keeps the reigning champ honest on the #69 American Honda/Universal Studios/Dunlop/Jardine-backed RC51, while Eric Bostrom looks to close the gap on the #32 Kawasaki/Lockhart Phillips/Akrapovic/Yuasa-sponsored factory Kawasaki ZX-7R.


Hayden would go on to win the '02 AMA Superbike Championship while riding the American Honda RC51, and then would bolt to the MotoGP World Championship for the '03 season while riding for the Repsol Honda team, claiming the MotoGP Rookie of the Year in the process.  By the end of the 2006 season, America had seen it's first world champion in six seasons (Kenny Roberts, Jr./2000 500CC World Champion) when The Kentucky Kid claimed the championship at the season ending round on the team's RC211V, defeating multi-time World Champion Valentino Rossi in route to the title.

Five years later, and with 150 grand prix races in his back pocket after nine seasons of contesting the premier road racing series in the world, and the landscape has changed some for the Owensboro resident.  Now riding for his second factory team in MotoGP, the Ducati pilot has struggled mightily in the series with the Italian marque's carbon fiber chassis, yet he still should finish ranked 8th in the season-ending standings after next weekend's final round in Valencia.  Should any problems befall 7-Time MotoGP Champion Valentino Rossi next weekend (Hayden's team mate), The Kid could actually finish ranked in the 7th spot of the season-ending standings.

Although finishing 7th or 8th is not the cup of Kentucky tea that Hayden would hope for, the former champ stands resolute in helping to bring the Italian marque back to the top in MotoGP, and is looking forward to the switch to the '1000' platform in the 2012 season after five years of running the '800s' in the series.  Hayden's contract is up with Ducati at the end of the 2012 season and the question on a lot of minds is 'will he be on a red Italian bike after the 2012 season?'  Time will tell.


Whatever may come of the future for Nicky, one place he DOES have a guaranteed ride in the future is in AMA Pro Flat Track.  Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, who sponsored Nicky's demo laps at the 2010 Lucas Oil Indy Mile, told us here at Stu's Shots back towards the end of the summer that no matter what that Nicky always had a ride with the LBM Ducati team.  The Kentucky Kid kicked in a wad of dough in early August to help the team in rebuilding their motor after losing one at the Sacramento Mile at the end of July.  Team co-owner Dave Lloyd is (needless to say) a big fan of the middle Hayden brother (as is the entire LBM bunch), so he would in most cases have a ride ready for The Kid should he decide to come back to AMA Flat Track Series racing (not that that is likely to happen anytime soon-unfortunately for flat track fans!)  And Nicky made it VERY well known after those 2010 demo laps at Indy that he 'would be back' at some time or another in AMA Pro Flat Track.
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Read on about Nicky's nine seasons in the MotoGP World Championship as Cycle News.com's Henny Ray Abrams was on-hand at the Australian MotoGP round a couple of weeks ago, when Hayden competed in his 150th Grand Prix event since joining the series for the 2003 season.  You can read his story and interview with The Kentucky Kid here:

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2011/10/26/nicky-hayden-150-gps-later/
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AMA Flat Track: Lloyd Brothers Motorsports & Brad Baker Talk Springfield Mile II

Brad Baker #12 is interviewed on the victory podium after winning semi race #2 at the Springfield Mile II on Sunday, September 4 by AMA Pro Flat Track announcer Barry Boone.  The Rookie of the Year shoe-in used the practice sessions as a 'test' to try and work out the chassis wobble that the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports/TeamHurtbyAccident.com/Nicky Hayden/ENI USA-sponsored and Ducati HyperMotard-based team had experienced at the spring round of the 2011 AMA Pro Flat Track Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Series at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

After qualifying in the top spot right out of the box in his first Twins Series event of the year in May, the machine started to suffer from a wobble while on the straightways at the legendary track.  Brad still fought it hard and brought home a very admirable 5th place in the main.  Returning over the Labor Day Weekend, the team worked on set-up to work out the problem, but made the bike somewhat slower, resulting in a 17th place qualifying spot, .683 seconds behind fast qualifier Kenny Coolbeth, Jr.  But Brad told team co-owner that 'at least it wasn't wobbling now.' 

Fighting through his heat race, The Bullet was forced to run the semi in order to qualify for the main, and ended up winning over Shaun Russell to take his transfer to the National event, round 16 of the 2011 season.  Brad worked his way through the field, and as a result of the windy conditions on the day, suffered what ended up being a minor scratch on his eye from dirt getting in it.  Still the fighter, Brad brought it home in a solid 8th spot for the day in the final 5 lap dash in the red flag interupted event, and reported after the race weekend that his eye was okay and no major damage was done.  Of course being the hard charger and former Pro Singles Series Champion that he is, he wasn't satisfied and is ready to fight for more.

You can bet that the hard-working team will get things worked out for the remaining three events on the year, after failing to qualify at the Knoxville Raceway Half-Mile event last weekend, only the 2nd event Brad and the team have failed to qualify for this year.  There is way too much experience with this great group of guys, and they won't give up until it all comes together for all of their liking! 
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Brad Baker Springfield Mile Report

AMA Pro Racing Grand National Flat Track Rookie, Brad Baker, brought the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports / TeamHurtByAccident.com / Motion Pro / ENI USA R & M / Daniel Kalal / Nicky Hayden backed motorcycle home a solid 8th in the fall running of the Springfield Mile.

Brad Baker crossed the finish line 8th in a spectacular race that saw the top ten riders cross the finish line within 1 second of the winner.

Expectations were high from fans and sponsors for the fall running of Springfield since Baker had dominated qualifying at the spring running of the Springfield Mile. However, as the track changed throughout the day, the chassis developed a wiggle that ultimately forced Baker to back off and bring the bike home in 5th place in the main event.

“We knew coming here it was going to be a long day that required patience on our part as we worked through chassis set up for the main event. We actually had a really good day, better than it looks on paper – we learned a lot. The Springfield Mile is a very unique track compared to the rest of the race tracks on the circuit. The dirt is spongy and delivers a very high amount of traction that loads our chassis unlike anywhere else that we race. Even though our bike has won before, it is in its early stages of development compared to the majority of the field. Our bike has been really solid and fast everywhere we have taken it except Springfield and the only way to test for Springfield is to race at Springfield. There is nothing else like it where we can go test. We have taken this bike to Springfield four times prior to this past weekend. Each time we have had struggles ranging from excessive chatter to a heavy weave that manifests itself into a head shake” stated Lead Tech for the team, David Gamble.

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A few weeks before the eventually-canceled Lucas Oil Indy Mile, Dave Lloyd of the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports team touched base with me about the team inheriting a chunk of change from Nicky Hayden, in order to re-build one of the team's motors which was lost at the Sacramento Mile at the end of July.  As a result of Dave's candor with me on the subject, Stu's Shots was able to break the story that former '02 AMA Superbike Champion and '06 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden had helped out the team in a big way back in early August.

As a result of The Kentucky Kid's sponsorship dollars to the team, they were able to rebuild both motors in their stable of Ducati 1098s, and when they rolled into Springfield on Sunday, September 4 they had added a nice big sponsorship sticker to their tanks on the bikes.  The shot above is of one of those bikes, that unfortunately for Brad and the team, 'just wasn't right' per what Brad told the team and Dave passed on to me in the pit area after practice.  So the team parked the bike-the one in the shot above-and used their other machine, as well as one of their Aprilia's that Aaron King ran last year, as a back up machine for proper AMA Pro Flat Track submittal for the event. 

You can also see the '69 Nicky Hayden' sponsorship sticker in the lead photo, as well as the 'NickyHayden.com' sticker on the parked bike in the pit area at Springfield.  Great gesture by Nicky, and as Dave told me before the Indy Mile event was canceled, that if and when 'Nicky needed a bike, he could have one of their's' in a heart beat.  VERY COOL!

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“This past weekend we planned on using our three 4-lap practice / qualifying sessions and heat race to test a range of chassis, suspension and tire settings in hopes of finding a stable, fast set up for the main event. The team was really happy that in both the semi and main event the bike handled well, was stable and fast” continued team co-owner Michael Lloyd.

“It was a tough day for me actually because I want to go out and win every time that I am on the track. I had to be patient and test today to prepare for the main. The bike felt really good in my semi qualifier and I was able to win that easily over the bike that won the main event here last year so I know that we were ready for the main event. Unfortunately, I got some dirt in my eye in the early part of the main event and scratched my eye. When they stopped the race with 5 laps to go I was a mess. We flushed my eye out the best that we could on the front strait while waiting for the restart. I decided to finish the race but I had to back off and bring it home safe. If not for my eye I think that I would have been able to race with the top seven instead of just following them home. I am really looking forward to coming here next spring since we now have a good setup to start the day with” said Brad Baker.

“In seven Twins events, Brad has qualified 1st twice, 2nd twice, won 3 heat races and qualified for 4 Dash races. He is a contender everywhere that we show up. I couldn’t be happier with the efforts of the entire team. If you look at the history of the series, getting new types of bikes to the front is a serious challenge. Every one of our team members and sponsors is working very hard and supporting each other as we work towards our bike’s second win and Brad’s first win as an expert” stated team co-owner David Lloyd.

Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, Inc. is sponsored by:

TeamHurtByAccident.com / Motion Pro / ENI USA R&M / Daniel Kalal / Nicky Hayden / Penske Racing Shocks / M4 Exhausts / D’s Leathers / Arai Helmets / RaceImage.net / VMC Racing Frames / Vortex / Saddlemen / Yuasa Batteries / K & N Engineering / Fox Performance Engines / Mr. Sign / Mad Hatter / Wagner-Lewis Clutches / Flat Trak Fotos

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You can keep up with the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Ducati team here via their official site:

http://www.lloydbrothersmotorsports.net/index.htm

Reflections From the 4th Annual RedBull Indianapolis MotoGP Weekend

A quartet of riders hammers down the long front straight at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the third practice session for round 12 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.  Although announced attendance was down somewhat from last year, the crowd on Saturday actually appeared much larger then figures released.  IMS and Dorna were to have announced yesterday the return in 2012 of the MotoGP World Championship, but according to Mel Harder of IMS, this announcement has been delayed while 'final tweaks' to the schedule are being hammered out.
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Ben Spies motors off on his scooter behind the Yamaha Factory Racing team's garage after the 3rd practice session on Saturday, August 27.  Spies had a great race after qualifying later in the day on the front row, and being bumped back to 9th on the start of yesterday's final.  He rode like the champ he is, and most likely will be in MotoGP, to bring the 50th anniversay Yamaha home in 3rd behind winner Casey Stoner and runner-up and 2010 Indy winner Dani Pedrosa.
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Kenny Roberts' 1980 YZR500 championship winning machine sits on display under one of the Yamaha tents.  Roberts rode some demo laps on this very machine at Laguna Seca last month, but unfortunately it was 'display only' at Indy.
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Alvaro Bautista does some interesting stretching exercises as he rolls out of pitlane on the #19 Rizla Suzuki GSV-R during the 3rd practice session on Saturday morning, August 27.  Whatever they were, they definitely seemed to work as Bautista brought the machine home in the 6th spot in Sunday's round 12 action of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship race at Indy.
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Mike Lloyd of the Lloyd Brothers Motorsports Ducati team had the team's AMA Pro Flat Track machine on display inside the massive Ducati Island area over the course of the weekend.  In both passes I made to try and get a chance to say hi, Mike was busy with the fans talking about the machine that currently sits in the 5th overall position in the point standings with rider Brad Baker.
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Nicky Hayden appears all smiles en route to Ducati Island at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 27.  Hayden had his worst-ever weekend at IMS in finishing 15th and only scoring a single point after choosing a tire that was too soft, even in the cooler Sunday final temperatures.  The Kentucky Kid spent the better part of his off-time away from the bike hanging with friends and family and signing autographs for many a fan over the weekend.
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As Dean Adams from SuperBikePlanet.com puts it, the 'bike that wouldn't die' was on display in the Yamaha display vendor area over the weekend at Indy.  This is the same replica TZ750 that The King rode some demo laps on at the Lucas Oil Indy Mile in 2009.  I never get tired of seeing this, even after 36 years passing!
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Colin Edwards' #5 Monster Energy Tech 3 Yamaha M1 sits on display under one of the Yamaha tents at the RedBull Indianapolis MotoGP round.  The Texas Tornado was inundated with questions as to his plans for the 2012 season, but wasn't able to shine a light on his future over the weekend.
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One of the late Gary Nixon's former Triumph Triples was on display in the paddock area at IMS over the weekend.  Former racer Steve Parrish also did a lap of honor on the bike to pay homage to his departed friend, who passed away in early August.
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The Monster Energy umbella girls kept many a race fan very happy while posing behind the MotoGP garages at Indianapolis, including long-time race fan and compatriot/best bud of Stu's Shots, Tim Powers.  Powers is also a former National WERA champion from back in the mid-late '80s.  Smiles all around!
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Figuring out the MotoGP credentials board takes an advanced degree in algebra.  WTF!?
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