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Hayden and Rossi could have been teammates
Nicky Hayden has put pen to paper on a new contract with Honda, but he admits that he did have the opportunity to join Yamaha and team up with big rival Valentino Rossi.
The current MotoGP leader has admitted that although he eventually decided to stick with Honda for the 2007 season, he was at one point in talks over the prospect of a £2.4 million-a-year contract with Camel Yamaha instead.
This deal would have seen Hayden earning nearly £750,000 more annually than he does now, but the American says that although problems at Honda did drive him to consider the offer, he was deterred by the prospect of having to play second fiddle to Rossi.
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He told Eurosport: "At one point, I thought it would be the end of my time here [at Honda], so I talked to Valentino about teaming up and he liked the idea.
"Let's face it though, you know exactly who is going to be the number one rider with him in the team and that did worry me a bit."
The 25-year-old is determined not to come second to Rossi in this year's championship either, although there are now just 12 points between the two racers and the Italian has recently made disparaging comments about his rival's natural talent.
However, Hayden's ability is clearly held in higher regard elsewhere; Ducati also approached him prior to his re-signing for Honda, although Hayden claims he never really seriously considered this option.
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