The Curse of the Second Red Seat

I'm giddy. Like a little girl the night before Christmas. Indy is just around the corner, and who will be representing Ducati as their #1 factory rider? None other than America's own Nicky Hayden!

OK, it's not really so glamerous. Casey Stoner was firmly in the thick of the title chase before his "mystery illness" struck. Maybe everyone is just too embarassed to say he's got mono...who knows. So now he's out for 3 races. That leaves Hayden carrying the Desmo flag at the Brickyard. But his 6th place finish in the Czech Republic was his best finish this season. Not exactly awe inspiring from the 2006 World Champ.

I thought he was going to be a perfect match for the Desmosidici. His dirt tracking past is similar to Stoners, and Stoner is the master on that Duc. Casey laid down the most dominant season in GP history over the top of the greatest racer ever to throw a leg over a motorcycle. He is freakishly, perfectly matched to a motorcycle nobody else can ride. In fact, I asked Nicky about the bike when I called in as a guest on Wind Tunnel. His response? "The bike is trying to kill me at ever turn."

Um...so what gives? That second bike is cursed, man. That's what. Marco Melandri, probably as talented as anyone on the grid this side of Rossi, rode the second Ducati last year and was absolutely humiliated on it. He's doing much better this year on the underfunded, underdeveloped, underdog Kawasaki. That says something about how impossible it is to ride the D16RR, unless of course your last name starts with "S" and ends in "toner".

The fact that Nicky is scoring any points on that thing at all is a testament to his work ethic, because I don't really see him being a master of bike development. He just lays down LOTS of laps in practice, changing his style to addapt to the bike, probably leaving the bike development to the data aquisition guys and the engineers.

Still, he pulled a 2nd place out of Indy last year on the RC212V (even if he was saved by a race cut short by the remnants of a hurricane. Lorenzo would have overtaken him had the race gone the distance). I'm hopeful he can pull a podium spot behind Rossi and Lorenzo this year (they seem to be unstoppable), but hoping for more than that is probably silly.

Nicky's contract is up this year and there's already talk of where Nicky will end up. There isn't much talk of Ducati retaining him for another season. Whispers of WSBK are swirling, but I doubt he's done with GP. It's where he wants to be. Hell, put him on the Honda Gresini Satellite team as a second rider with Melandri and watch the Ducati alumni's take the series by storm!