Former MotoGP World Champion and World Superbike racer Nicky Hayden breathed his last earlier today. The 35-year old rider was involved a bicycle crash last week and succumbed to his injuries. Post the latest round of World Superbike Championship (WSBK) in Imola, Italy, Hayden was training on his bicycle on the Rimini coast and was struck by an oncoming car on 17th May 2017.
The Bufalini Hospital in Cesena, where Hayden was admitted, released a medical bulletin announcing his death today. The young rider had severe cerebral damage and multiple traumatic injuries and had been in the intensive care unit.
Hailing from the US, Nicky Hayden was nicknamed as the "Kentucky Kid" and was born in a family of racers. The rider first competed in the MotoGP premier class in 2003 at the age of 21 years, teaming up with Valentino Rossi at Repsol Honda. Three years later, he would go on to win the World Championship title following a highly dramatic battle with Rossi in Valencia, ending the Italian's five-year winning streak.
Hayden remained a part of MotoGP until 2015, but then shifted his energies to World Superbike Championship riding with Honda again. It was in 2016 when Hayden secured his first in WSBK in Malaysia, which even CarandBike was witness to. He was 13th in the points following his latest Superbike race at Imola this year.
