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Virtuoso of Velocity
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Nicky Hayden
Jeff Buchanan
07/01/2006
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Photograph by Arthur Coldwells
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When the circus comes to town for a race weekend, the teams quickly
set to work. The moment the bikes take to the circuit on Friday morning, Hayden
begins dissecting the track, methodically unraveling its secrets, finding and
exploiting the invisible line and last second brake points that will render the
fastest lap. It rarely comes easily. Race circuits notoriously carry mysteries
and quirks in their mirror-smooth pavement that only reveal themselves at speed.
The idiosyncrasies lay dormant and benign until velocity awakens them,
attempting to bite back and wrench the handlebars out of the hands of the riders
who have a split-second to finesse them back on line.
 Photograph by Andrew Northcott. (Click image to enlarge)
Hayden is more than
simply a racer. He must be part engineer, tire specialist, and suspension
expert—a flesh and blood computer capable of translating every aspect of what
his factory Honda is doing to the team of technicians and engineers who will
work to fine tune it to the specifics of the track, honing and adjusting
everything, down to the density of the air entering the combustion process as
measured by a barometer. Even the choice of tire compounds is a science unto
itself. With 240 horsepower, the mighty Honda will easily devour its rubber
during the course of a 28-lap race and cause even more dramatic slithering and
sliding for the rider to control. Hayden takes all of this into consideration.
The test sessions continue on into Saturday qualifying, the riders continuing to
lower their times. A margin as incremental as one second can separate the lap
times of the entire field.
The precious moments when
Hayden’s not on the bike or working with the technicians, he must be a public
relations man, spokesperson, ambassador, celebrity and—like it or not—sex symbol
(Hayden was recently named one of the 50 most eligible bachelors in America by
People magazine). Fans travel thousands of miles and arrive a week early at
events to see their heroes, reaching over police protected barriers in the pits
to touch the revered gods of pavement.
 Hayden celebrates his home-country MotoGP victory at Laguna Seca in 2005. (Click image to enlarge)
On Sunday, all the travel, the work,
the testing, and the training comes down to one 28-lap race in front of a crowd
of 100,000-plus spectators, with tens of millions viewing on television
worldwide. They will watch as Hayden invokes precise inputs of throttle, clutch,
and brakes, using his body as a counterweight, shifting his mass in corners to
fight the g forces. He will wear through his inch-thick plastic knee sliders,
the result of scraping them against the pavement of corners at speed. Each lap
of the circuit becomes a carefully choreographed ballet. When you understand the
artistry and concentration that goes into riding at this level, it becomes as
precise and as beautifully powerful as Tiger Wood’s swing.
After Hayden has
found that elusive combination of fast line, braking points, suspension setting,
tire choice and engine mapping, he must hit his marks, corner after corner, lap
after lap, perfectly for 28 laps, unfazed by 20 of the world’s best riders doing
everything in their power to disrupt his magic. They are there, breathing on
him, pushing him, watching and waiting for that one mistake that will let them
past. They are driven by the same zeal, the same obsession to win. One mistake
can spill the dream onto the pavement, reducing all that beautiful technology to
a skidding, tumbling paperweight. Or, Hayden can find himself standing atop the
podium under a shower of champagne and the flashbulbs of the press conference.
Respectful and loyal, Hayden is quick to credit the dozens of people behind
him. But eventually, at every race there comes that ominous moment when the
final warning horn blasts and the crews of technicians must clear the grid,
leaving Hayden alone, sitting astride his Honda. The hopes and dreams of his
team, the sponsors, and the millions of dollars they’ve invested, literally
resting in his hands.
Hayden stays at the circuit, long after each race is
over, to sign autographs for his adoring fans. Not until the last one has been
signed and the last photo has been taken will Hayden head back to the hotel to
try and unwind a little before catching a flight the following morning. Next
week he’ll be in another time zone, at another circuit, where the MotoGP circus
has landed, ready to do it all over again.
www.nickyhayden.com
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