This season has been the stuff of dreams for Honda’s Nicky Hayden – while he hasn’t finished on top of the podium at every race, his consistency in finishing ON the podium helped him grab an early lead in the championship points race, and hold onto that lead throughout the entire season.
Now things are coming down to the wire – with three races left in the season, Hayden leads five-time premier-class champion Valentino Rossi by 21 points, with 225 points to Rossi’s 204.
Although Hayden’s incredible consistency this season leads us to believe that he will take the title by finishing on the podium in all the remaining rounds, anything can happen at this level of motorcycle competition, and Hayden still has plenty of work to earn the championship. Rossi has had some horrible luck this year, but Hayden is not immune to it (a fried clutch on his factory Honda at Philip Island, for instance).
Just to give readers an idea of how the season can play out, consider this: for each of the three remaining races, 25 points will be awarded for first place, 20 points for second, 16 for third, 13 for fourth, 11 for fifth, and 10 for sixth. The number of mathematical possibilities are staggering, but suffice it to say that Rossi still has a very distinct chance at taking his sixth premier-class championship, although the only way we consider it likely to happen is if Hayden has at least one bad round.
So far this season, Nicky has proven time and again his ability to perform under pressure – most notably at the USGP, where he took an amazing second win in two years. So although the pressure is building as the season draws to a close, we think Nicky will continue to ride consistently, as he has all season. Still, as I mentioned earlier, anything can happen…
