nicky hayden : ama superbike champion

[gomick]

congrats to nicky. nicky won race 1 on saturday at virginia, while eric bostrom won race 2 from mat mladin by half a wheel length - badluck mat

1 NICKY HAYDEN 488 HON 1000
2 ERIC BOSTROM 451 KAW 750
3 MIGUEL DUHAMEL 381 HON 1000
4 PASCAL PICOTTE 350 DUC 998
5 AARON W YATES 345 SUZ 750 /
6 BRIAN D PARRIOTT 308 SUZ 750
7 MATHEW MLADIN 300 SUZ 750
8 DOUG CHANDLER 294 DUC 998
9 BRIAN LIVENGOOD 294 SUZ 750
10 JAMIE A HACKING 260 SUZ 750

[Airhead]

Mick,

Will Matt stay on next year in the US? Any ideas? I guess someone had to knock him off and Hayden was riding the wheels of that bike in the snippets I have watched on Austar.

[f1manoz]

I think Mladin and Hayden should both be racing on the international arena. Mladin has been vastly successful in the USA the past few years (although this year wasn't so great), while Hayden has really come of age this year and is already tipped to be making a move to MotoGP, though that is still only rumour.

[gomick]

think mladin has 1 more year on his ama contarct which is disappointing
i know anthony gobert is a free agent at the moment. hopefully he can score a moto gp yamaha ride - possibly replacing biaggi

[f1manoz]

Originally posted by gomick
i know anthony gobert is a free agent at the moment. hopefully he can score a moto gp yamaha ride - possibly replacing biaggi

That would be FANTASTIC!!!! But has he done enough this year to get another shot at the World Championship? Also, there is his 'past' which goes against him somewhat nowadays, though I'd be hoping that would be forgotten by now. Gobert has matured a lot since his early days.

[gomick]

goberts past is well forgotten, otherwise yamaha in the US wouldnt have been paying him a million $$$$ to ride. i think he did enough this year considering he missed 70% of the season with a broken leg (race win/pole position etc - then nicky hayden dominated)..... it has to be the yamaha connection.

[racer69]

Gobert was the only rider who could take it to Nicky in the first half of the season, then when he broke his leg Eric Bostrom picked up his pace.

Gobert stated on RPM that he didn't really want to be there (in America), but was only interested in going MotoGP if it was on a 4 stroke or WSBK if it was on a twin. Can't blame him, he gets a packet for riding in America, and would not be interested in taking his own money to a world series. I'll stick my neck out and say he will take Biaggi's place.

On Hayden, wouldn't surprise me if he did a WSBK race before the end of the year. As for next year, rumoured to be getting backing from Camal to go MotoGP, but the question would have to be asked, would he like to pay for a MotoGP ride (through Camal backing), or get paid megabucks by staying in the AMA's? (Apparently the stats are that 95% of MotoP rides are paid for by riders, 50% of WSBK rides are paid for by riders)

As for Mladin, has another year with Suzuki America. Also, he has said he is only interested in going MotoGP with Suzuki, yet isn't pursuing a ride, he usually says 'Suzuki know where to find me'. But then at other times says that WSBK put on a great show. But i'd say he'll put in a big effort in the off season and come back to try and get his AMA title back.