After a disastrous weekend at Donington Park, where Nicky Hayden crashed out of a wet race along with many other top riders, tomorrow’s German MotoGP event at the Sachsenring should be dry as a bone. On pole for that race will be the Laguna Seca winner, Nicky Hayden (Honda).
Hayden earned that pole position on his 24th birthday today. We should have a good indication tomorrow whether his victory at Laguna Seca had more to do with local track knowledge than an ability to run up front in Europe. Sachsenring, of course, is a track known better by Rossi and the other Europeans. A track where, if an advantage exists, it is an advantage to many of Hayden’s competitors.
Several former racers have commented that the Laguna Seca victory, despite the home track advantage, could be an important confidence booster for Hayden — allowing him to be a consistent podium finisher from now on. We will see.
