MotoGP: Nicky Hayden Withdraws from Italian GP

Bad news for American MotoGP fans, as Nicky Hayden has withdrawn from the Italian GP at Mugello due to wrist pain. Hayden was a question mark after Friday’s sessions, and sure enough just before this morning’s FP3 session, The Kentucky Kid opted to sit out this round, and is due to have surgery on his wrist this coming Tuesday, in Italy.

Hayden has been nursing a wrist injury for sometime now, with the cause of his swelling and pain being unknown. The American will undergo exploratory surgery by hand specialist Riccardo Luchetti, who will hopefully be able to identify the cause of Hayden’s ails, while also cleaning up any affected areas.

Hayden hopes to return to racing action as soon as possible, but like his fellow American Ben Spies last season, question marks are starting to be raised about Hayden’s longterm health and ability to race a MotoGP machine. Hopefully for the Kentucky Kid, Tuesday’s surgery will be a success, and we will see him on the pointy end of things once again.

“My wrist isn’t getting any better so as hard a decision as it is to take the best thing for me is to listen to the doctors and skip this race. We need to stop thinking about riding and start thinking about a plan for the operation next week and my subsequent recovery,” explained Hayden.

“Mugello is a fast and physical circuit at the best of times but with the pain and loss of strength in my right hand it was getting really difficult to brake properly and it was risky to continue. It is a shame to miss any race but especially Mugello, a circuit I love.”

“It’s also a shame for the team because we are really starting to build something together and we are understanding how to make progress more quickly during the weekend. My mechanics are working hard to make things easy for me and to give me the chance to get faster. I feel bad to miss this round, for the team and the sponsors.”