Site Map You are here: Home > Motorbike news > July 2007 > Hayden has reason to smile again at last
Hayden has reason to smile again at last
A delighted Nicky Hayden expressed his gratitude for the way his Honda team had stuck by him, after getting his first podium of the season in last weekend's Dutch GP.
There was little sign of Hayden's poor season to date improving when he began the race in 13th, but a magnificent start took him up to third by the fourth lap, a position he then lost to Valentino Rossi but soon retook from John Hopkins and eventually finished in.
The American thanked his colleagues for not "pointing the finger" at him during his run of bad form and cited the recent hard work they had put into improving his bike's performance as a key factor in his finally getting to the podium again.
He explained: "We've just found a little bit of an improvement with the machine - just those three or four tenths that make the difference between being at the back and being at the front.
Motorcycle Insurance - Fantastic quotes!
"It's not like we found two seconds a lap, but just enough so that I can push and have fun. There's still some work to do and a lot of racing to go, but we'll just try and enjoy this one."
It was the defending champion's first top three finish since clinching the MotoGP title on the final day of last season and it ended a run of eight races in which he had managed to come no higher than seventh.
Currently in tenth place overall, Hayden will be hoping to keep on marching up the table with a good result in the forthcoming German GP, in which he has finished third for the previous three years in a row.
Related articles
RoSPA promotes safer motorcycling
Biker deaths on the rise
Police announce successful nuisance biker crackdown
Bookmark with:
Motorbike News
29/08/08 - Biker helps hospital that helped him. A biker from Norwich who required a heart transplant is planning to raise money for the hospital that treated him.
29/08/08 - Fire service to liaise with bikers. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue is trialling a new rescue response motorbike to enable it to better engage with the biker community.
28/08/08 - Bikers raise cash for rescuers. Burnham motorcyclists are to stage a fundraising bike ride for a local rescue service, it is reported.
