Hayden dies five days after being hit by car
Co-driver change looks permanent
Former MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden died in hospital yesterday, five days after he was hit by a car while training on his bicycle in Italy. He was 35.
Hayden had severe cerebral damage and multiple traumatic injuries.
He was training on the Rimini coast after a motorcycle race at nearby Imola. The black Peugeot car that hit Hayden had its front windscreen smashed.
Judicial authorities have opened an investigation into the in- Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon's co-driver change for Rally Portugal could become permanent.
Brit Seb Marshall stepped in to replace injured New Zealander John Kennard. Marshall has already been confirmed as Paddon's long-term co-driver and will replace the retiring Kennard after WRC Finland in July.
But with Kennard's injury taking longer to heal than expected and Paddon showing major signs of improvement in Portugal, the move might be made without a Kennard swan-song.
“The plan was for John to stop after Finland, but that was before the injury threw a spanner in the works,” Paddon told Autosport. “It'll become difficult to chop and change co-drivers. Seb and I have started to build a rapport, but John's part of this project and we want to do what's best for everybody.”
It appears Kennard will miss the next round — WRC Sardinia early next month.
Paddon had been off the pace with the 2017-spec cars but showed promising signs at the weekend's WRC Portugal, winning four stages and leading briefly before electrical problems cost him any chance of earning points. — Dale Budge cident and questioned the 30-yearold driver of the Peugeot.
Fellow motorcycle racers reacted to Hayden's death on Twitter yesterday.
“I'm shattered after the news. We will never forget you!” wrote threetime MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez.
“Always in my heart, champ. RIP Nicky. #69,” wrote MotoGP standout Dani Pedrosa.
Hayden was born in Owensboro, Kentucky.
He won the MotoGP title in 2006, finishing narrowly ahead of Italian great Valentino Rossi.