No home advantage for Hayden
Added on Wednesday, July 16th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
No home advantage for Hayden
Despite being one of four American riders taking part in their home Grand Prix at Laguna Seca this weekend, Nicky Hayden doesn’t think he’ll gain any advantage racing in his ‘backyard’.
The Repsol Honda rider won the 2005 and 2006 races at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but was unable to make it an historic treble last year following an incident on the opening lap.
Despite being one of the favourites to take maximum points at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday, the 2006 MotoGP World Champion feels that home advantage doesn’t count for as much as in previous years.
He said: “Racing your home race is always a special deal and something I don´t take lightly. The first couple of years I came to MotoGP we didn´t have a US GP, so I think that makes me cherish it, treasure it even more.
“I wouldn´t say it’s my home track as far as knowing it goes because the MotoGP guys have had three years there, so I don’t think it has any advantage for me anymore. But that home crowd’s got to be worth something.”
Despite languishing down in eighth place in the championship following numerous acts of misfortune, Hayden hopes to secure his first podium of 2008 in front of a passionate American crowd and put the recent pain and frustration of Assen and Germany out of his mind. In Holland, Hayden’s engine cut out before the line, handing the final rostrum place to Colin Edwards whilst at Sachsenring, mechanical difficulties meant he could finish no higher than 13th.
Hayden added: “I´m excited to go to Laguna, even if we go there on a bit of a run of bad luck. Hopefully things will turn around for us, it would be a nice place to get everything to roll from Friday through to Sunday.
“Whatever happens I´ll just keep pushing. Laguna certainly has a special place in my heart. The track itself is like one big lap, it´s not like all different sections, a lot of the turns lead into one another, so you´ve really got to put it all together. Like if you screw up the Corkscrew you miss the next three or four corners. It´s a very technical track and I love it.”
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