Nicky's even tougher than we imagined

[CaptainCombat]

Motogp world champion Nicky Hayden has revealed that his penultimate round clash with team-mate Dani Pedrosa left him with <b>a 'secret' shoulder injury, </b> which he carried to title victory in the Valencia showdown, but which now requires surgery. Hayden injured his shoulder when Pedrosa lost control of his Repsol Honda and slammed into the side of the American early in the Portuguese Grand Prix, dramatically destroying Nicky's world championship lead in the process. "Everybody saw my emotions and knew how I felt about Dani when I crashed," Hayden told <i>BBC Sport</i>. "If I'd gone on and lost the title I don't think I could ever have forgiven him. Everybody makes mistakes, but when he took me out I couldn't believe it. All I'd ever wanted to do was be world champion. I knew I had a great opportunity this year and I thought it was slipping away." Eager to avoid handing Valentino Rossi any further advantage for the Valencia season finale, Hayden deliberately played down the extent of the injury prior to the title decider - in which he sensationally snatched the crown from reigning five-times champion Rossi by finishing in third place, while the Italian crossed the line just 13th after a fall. "I was carrying the injury in Valencia, but the adrenalin got me through," said Hayden. "I had a good race going until Valentino crashed. I'd fought from sixth and was on Troy Bayliss's back tyre. I had nothing to lose. I thought 'win the race or crash'. There was no plan B. But when I saw 'Rossi P18' on my pit board I couldn't believe it. That was the longest race of my life. It seemed like it wasn't going to end." Because of the shoulder surgery, Hayden will miss the final test of 2006, at Jerez in Spain, from November 28-30. <BR>
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[CaptainCombat]

ps <b><i>Does anyone know of a season wrap up story by Dennis Noyes that I can read in english??? it appears that speednascartv.com isn't going to post one.. RB's thanks Chris</i></b>

[CW1Miles]

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Nicky is a tough kid, but the injury incurred in Portugal was not serious enough to a) hinder his ability to race for the title or b) eliminate him from the post-season tests at Valencia and Malaysia, where he put in a lot of laps on the new RC212V. He will, however, miss the end-of-year test at Jerez to have the shoulder checked. No word as to whether surgery will be necessary.<BR>

[Kwacker]

<div><em>&quot;Eager to avoid handing Valentino Rossi any further advantage for the Valencia season finale, Hayden deliberately played down the extent of the injury prior to the title decider&quot;</em></div><div><em></em> </div><div><em></em> </div><div>Does anyone else find this quote moronic? Would Valentino be less focused by thinking Nicky is healthy and 100% ready? If anything, if you're playing psych games, wheel Nicky out to the starting grid in a wheel chair and have three people help him onto the bike...then maybe Vale's thinking he's got it in the bag.</div>

[CW1Cernicky]

<div></div><div><font size="1"><font face="Verdana"><strong>MotoGP Official Test Jerez<br>Day 3 Overall Official Times<br><br></strong>1. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing) - 1'38.394<br>2. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) - 1'38.527<br>3. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Factory Racing) - 1'39.300<br>4. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) - 1'39.55<br>5. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki Racing Team) - 1'39.832<br>6. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) - 1'39.873<br>7. Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) - 1'39.887<br>8. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) - 1'40.043<br>9. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Team Roberts) - 1'40.083<br>10. Carlos Checa (Honda LCR) - 1'40.100</font></font><br></div><div><strong>Talking tough! Hows that for Nicky and Team when just a couple weeks ago he crashed twice at Qatar. Go Nicky/USA!</strong></div><p>Message Edited by CW1Cernicky on <span class="date_text">02-26-2007</span><span class="time_text">06:43 PM</span></p>