Nicky Hayden inducted into US Motorsports Hall of Fame

Motorcycling star Nicky Hayden has been posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

Hayden, nicknamed the “Kentucky Kid”, tragically lost his life in a bicycle accident during a 2017 training ride in Italy.

The American rider was the 2006 MotoGP champion on a factory Repsol Honda, breaking Valentino Rossi’s five-year consecutive streak. He rode for the factory Repsol Honda team from 2003-2008, for the factory Ducati team from 2009-2013, and for the private Aspar Honda team from 2014-2015 before switching to Honda's World Superbike team. He won three races in his 13 MotoGP seasons.

Hayden’s early career was in the American dirt-track and road-racing scene, and in 2002 he became the youngest ever champion of the US national AMA superbike series.

The Motorsports Hall of Fame award was presented by former Honda team manager Gary Mathers, and received by Nicky's younger brother Roger Hayden, who also kicked off the event by riding a lap of honour aboard a Repsol edition CBR1000RR while carrying the American flag, as Nicky often did after his major wins.

During the 2018 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas at Circuit of The Americas, Hayden's number, 69, was spray painted on turn 18 and officially renamed, “Hayden Hill” in his honour.