Arguably one of the nicest blokes to have ever graced motorcycling, RIP Nicky, God speed. http://www.motorcyclenews.com/sport/2017/may/nicky-hayden-has-died/
Very gutted by this, As people have said from what I have seen over the years in the media and from social media he was one of the Nicest Gents in the Paddock. I can remember his first season and then watching him untill he left motoGP, even being so happy when he came back for a bit. The sport has lost a Gent and i imagine words will be said at both Monaco at some point at the weekend (seen a fair few f1 drivers tweets etc) and Mugello will be a bit more sombre that it was going to be.
I actually met Hayden during the Day of Champions at the 2006 Donington GP. Naturally the biggest crowd was milling around the Yamaha garages, waiting for an appearance from Rossi that never materialised. Nicky on the other hand was out leaning against the crowd barrier, right at the end of the pitlane away from the Honda garage, talking to anyone and everyone who stopped long enough. My little group spent a good half an hour talking to him about what he thought the pole time would be, who was going for what tyres, what he thought of the upcoming move to 800cc engines (he wasn't a fan) and the end of the V5 engine. The guy was super nice to everybody, I'm sure every group of people was asking the same questions, but he smiled and gave everyone a proper answer. We all told him he had to beat Rossi to the title, even then he was very humble, he just said thanks and he'd try his best. We wondered off to the other end of the garages where Tech 3/Team KR/Suzuki were and were down there for at least an hour. When we came back Nicky was still there, leaning against the barriers, signing stuff and talking to all the fans who came by. It's incredibly sad that he should be gone so young and a huge loss to racing.
This photo has been doing the rounds on most riders social media and I thought I would share it here as I think its a wonderful picture. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Was lucky enough to meet Nicky. He used some of my images and even signed some of my work. I recently attended the remembrance for him at Donington Park and can say that with the reaction to his loss its clear to see what an impact he made on the sport and the people who knew him.
