I?m looking forward to getting that number-one plate on my RCV next year.?
Heres the oficial press release.. Read em and weep p0pc0rn41
NICKY HAYDEN WINS THE MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Repsol Honda?s Nicky Hayden clinched MotoGP Riders? World Championship today in the climax to one of the most dramatic Grand Prix seasons ever. The 25-year-old American star put in a brilliant performance under intense pressure to bring his RC211V home in third place and overturn an eight point deficit to out-going world champion Valentino Rossi. Hayden?s third place was enough to take the title by five points from Rossi, who crashed and remounted to finish 13th today.
Both Repsol Hondas made good starts, with Hayden passing pole-man Rossi into the first corner and quickly moving up the field. Ahead of him was Dani Pedrosa who?d made a lightning get-away from sixth on the grid. With Hayden behind him, Pedrosa let his team-mate by and dropped back to ease the pressure on Hayden. When Rossi fell on lap five, Hayden?s game-plan changed as the American opted to control the points gap to Rossi instead of fighting for the win. His plan worked, and Hayden crossed the line to take Honda?s third riders? title in the five years of the 990cc MotoGP era.
21-year-old Pedrosa played the part of the perfect team-mate today and brought his RCV home in fourth place, consolidating his fifth place in the world championship and confirming his status as Rookie of the Year. Today?s fantastic result means that the Repsol Honda Team has made a clean sweep in 2006, taking the Riders?, Constructors? and Team championships, as well as Pedrosa?s Rookie of the Year title and Hayden?s Best MotoGP Qualifier Award.
Nicky Hayden Position: 3rd - Best lap: 1m 32.976s ? WORLD CHAMPION ? 252pts
Front tyre: 16.5" Hard compound Michelin
Rear tyre: 16.5" Medium compound Michelin
?When you dedicate your life to something and the dream comes true it feels so good. This is a proud day for me, the team and my family. I want to thank everybody back home and I hope they?re partying back there in Owensboro. When I went down at the beginning of the Estoril race I thought the dream was over but I just didn?t give up. Anything can happen in racing and you just keep fighting until the end. I just believe good things happen to good people and this is a great day for me. I swear on the warm-up lap I was riding round in front of a full house here and I had tears in my eyes because I knew this was the chance of a lifetime and I had to go for it. I?ve felt all year that this was my year ? even at Estoril when Elias beat Rossi I believed it. I knew that, win or lose, I was going to sleep well tonight because I was gonna give it my all today. I got a good start and I was just fighting to get to the front in the first few laps. I saw some marks on the track and then I came round and my pit-board said ?Rossi P19?. Then it went to P17, P15 and P14 and it was a tough situation because I knew there was probably going to be a couple of riders pull over for him. And I knew that you can never count Valentino out ? if his bike was ok then he can make up a lot of positions in a hurry. I didn?t know if I was going to have to fight the guys ahead of me because if you get in a dogfight with Loris and Troy you know you?re going to take some chances. But I stayed close enough that I felt like I was going to be able to go for it if I needed to. Then I saw ?P3 OK? on my pit-board and I had faith in my team that they had figured it out that I was safe. Then I just tried to be smooth and ride safe. Honestly I didn?t know it was over until the chequered flag. It feels really good to beat a guy like Rossi because he?s a real competitor with seven world titles and that just makes it that much more rewarding. Dani didn?t have team orders today but he let me by at the beginning of the race. We spoke last night and had a gentleman?s agreement and I told him that if he helped me to win the world championship that we would be straight and I won?t forget it. In two or three years from now if we?re still team-mates and I can help him then I?ll return the favour - he?s a good man. I really want to thank everyone involved in the Repsol Honda Team, and Michelin because it?s their 5th straight title in MotoGP so a big thanks to them too. I?m looking forward to getting that number-one plate on my RCV next year.?
Dani Pedrosa Position: 4th - Best lap: 1m 33.320s - World Championship position: 5th ? 215pts
Front tyre: 16.5" Medium compound Michelin
Rear tyre: 16.5" Medium compound Michelin
?I?m very happy for this result ? for myself, for Nicky and for the team. The team has won every title this year ? the Riders? title, the Constructors?, the Team title and the Rookie of the Year so this is very good for us. I think we did a great job today. I made a good start and I was waiting until Nicky was behind me. When they showed me that Nicky was third and I was second I let him past and showed him with my foot where he should pass me. Then I slowed down quite a lot to give Nicky some space in second place. Melandri and Capirossi got past me but only Capirossi was able to catch Nicky again. At this point I thought Rossi was behind me so I was slowing down, slowing down to give Nicky some gap. Then they showed me that Rossi had crashed so when I saw this I tried to push again. I tried to pass Melandri and Stoner but it was not so easy. I could make a bit of a gap but already the tyres were on the limit and I had a big gap between me and Melandri and I didn?t push for the last five laps and brought it home.?
Makoto Tanaka ? Repsol Honda Team Manager
?During the last five laps I was praying so hard for the race to finish! I want say from the bottom of my heart, ?Congratulations and thank you very much to Nicky?. We didn?t win the race today but it was such a valuable result that it was like a one-two finish. Both Nicky and Dani have done the perfect job today. We?ve had a very eventful season but this is a fantastic moment and we can enjoy it to the full. So I want to say thank you again to the riders who have worked very hard. Also thanks to the fans and to all our sponsors for their excellent support. Now all the team can celebrate this fantastic moment together.?
Total Weekend Attendance : 232,399
Race Day Attendance: 129,446
Lap Record : Loris Capirossi : 1m 32.924s