Hayden to Replace Rossi in 2007?

There's a feature article by Dean Adams at www.superbikeplanet.com in which he goes on to say that this will be the last season Hayden stays with HRC. He has no proof or any sort of facts supporting his claim other than the fact that Hayden is American. Adams goes on to claim that there have been many instances in which HRC have poked fun at Hayden's expense because he is American, going so far as to call Hayden the "red headed step child of the HRC family." He then goes on to talk about the description of John Hopkins' nationality in press releases depending on his success. In a day when Hopkins goes well he is titled the "Anglo American" (which to my understanding means born in England but resides in the US which is false of Hopkins anyways as he was born in the US) and when he does not do well he is simply "American." In my honest opinion Adams has gone on a bit of a rant because of HRC's latest press release in which he feels HRC have shed Hayden in a poor light in testing. Here is an excerpt of his article:

"Today's release makes note of Hayden this way: Hayden has rear wheel grip problems and admitted the feed-back he gave the team was not up to his usual standard. His best lap time reflected his day as he was almost one second off Pedrosa's fastest lap. Factual? Yes. Tells the whole story? No. Pokes a stick in the American guy's eye while we can? You decide."

I won't get into whether any of this is relevent or why Adams chose the title he did for the article but it got me thinking. Hayden hasn't had the success with HRC and Repsol Honda that they have expected when he came to MotoGP. Jeremy Burgess tried very hard to get Hayden to be Rossi's teammate at Gauloises Yamaha when his Repsol Honda contract expired after 2004. Hayden's current HRC contract ends after this season. I have no idea what Rossi's plans are for 2007 on, whether he will stay on to win an 800cc title, go to WRC, ALMS or F1. What I do think is when a crew chief lobbies to get a rider on a team they must see something in the rider. When Rossi leaves, do you think it's possible that Hayden will take his place at the side of Jeremy Burgess at Yamaha? I certainly wouldn't rule it out of the question.

To read the entire Dean Adams article click here.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (The Doctor @ Feb 14 2006, 01:52 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Interesting article...Makes me wonder if Nicky burned bridges when he pulled out of that contract with Yamaha when he first came to Motogp..
I'm sure Yamaha weren't pleased with Hayden but if Burgess sees something in him I think they would forgive and forget. In my opinion Burgess' opinion has to be the most respected in the paddock, he sees things most others would never notice.

As far as what would suit Hayden more, the RC211V or the M1, it's tough to tell. Colin Edwards is the only SBK rider we've seen on the M1 and has had some reasonable success but has claimed he needed more of a 250cc style. Although Edwards and Hayden's styles are very different, Edwards keeps his wheels in line and Hayden likes to get sideways. Troy Bayliss is more in between the two riders and seemed very unhappy on the RC211V in 2005 so who knows which bike suits a particular riding style. Rossi has slid both bikes with major success so I think it comes to the rider's ability to adapt. Which, for a young rider is much easier than an older rider.

I was just poking around some other forums and found some interesting comments about Dean Adams' article and it made me think and I wanted to clear anything up. I didn't post this thread to try and sensationalize an "anti-American" mentality in MotoGP. After reading some other journalists remarks it seems that Hayden is in fact one of the most well liked riders in the series, not only by fans but by his team and other riders.

The reason I started this thread was because Rossi's possible departure from MotoGP and the Yamaha/Hayden link brought up memories of 2004. Jeremy Burgess has expressed great interest in Stoner but before Stoner he wanted Hayden. I have read that Rossi is quoted in his book that Burgess has a desire to work with Hayden again after the season they spent "together" at Repsol Honda in 2003.

I know the series of events would be improbable; Rossi would have to leave MotoGP, Hayden would have to have reason to leave HRC or HRC would have to decide not to renew vows with Hayden, Hayden would have to decide whether a factory Yamaha or satellite Honda ride would suit him better and so on and so forth.

The reason I buy into this so much is I think HRC are very excited about Pedrosa. They have modeled their new 800cc machine around a very small rider and Pedrosa is very sponsor friendly. If Hayden continues to improve as he did in 2005 then I'm sure HRC would love a factory duo of Pedrosa and Hayden but should Hayden have a lackluster season like 2004, I would think HRC would be willing to cope with their team led by Pedrosa and a different rider.

Like I said it would be a very improbable situation but if it were to occur where there was a vacancy in the factory Yamaha team and he was forced to move to a satellite Honda team I think the factory Yamaha team would be the better option. The M1 and RC211V seem to be nearly evenly matched and factory support is always a positive to a rider. And no matter how good the team Hayden is working with now or could work with at a satellite team, no one is as talented as Jeremy Burgess.