Hayden wants to return to winning ways at Road Atlanta

Hayden looking for return to winning ways

(AMA Pro Racing Release) This weekend Team Kawasaki’s Roger Hayden returns to the scene of the greatest weekend of his career to date, Road Atlanta, where the Kentuckian closed out his ’05 campaign with a runaway Pro Honda Oils Supersport win and a thrilling last-corner victory in the Repsol Superstock class.

Still looking to return to the race-winning form he displayed before his leg break suffered early this year at Barber Motorsports Park, Hayden is hoping to do what he’s been so success at over the past couple of seasons -- finishing the year on a high note.

He explained, “The goal is definitely to finish strong and that’s kind of been the goal since I came back from the injury. Build and work towards next year and try to learn some things. I want to go out and win a couple 600 races and try to learn something with the Superbike that we can carry over to the winter.”

Actually one of Hayden’s primary goals for 2006 was to start strong as the Kawasaki ace had previously shown to be a rather slow starter -- both in terms of race weekends and the overall season. Mission accomplished as Hayden came out of the gates with a pair of Supersport wins and showed surprising speed in his rookie Superbike efforts.

“Starting strong was something I needed to work at,” he admitted. “I did that but we had a small little setback with the injury. That happens and it’s a part of racing. Everybody has problems like that. I’ve just to suck it up and move on. There’s always next year. It was unfortunate to go down when leading the points but that’s the way it goes.”

The Kawasaki star is actually still on the mend from his BMP injury, in which he broke his leg, suffered numerous ligament tears, and then fought off an infection. “I’m definitely not 100% and I don’t know if I’ll ever be 100%, but it doesn’t bother me on the bike so I can’t really complain. Sometimes here and there when I get off the bike it’s a little bit weak or sore. In the offseason I’ll get a good, steady therapy going and I’ll be good.”

Unfortunately, Hayden’s mishap robbed the series of what was promising to be an intense season-long duel between the 23-year-old and Jamie Hacking, the Yamaha USA pilot who has won every single race in the Supersport class since Hayden went down.

In fact, Hacking’s dominance has been so complete that it’s almost hard to remember that Hayden was in charge early on. There’s no telling how the season would have played out if not for the injury and protracted recovery.

“It would have been good,” Hayden sighed. “The first two races were so close. In both races you could have covered us with a blanket at the finish. I guess it’s kind of disappointing for the fans. I wish it was different but you can’t get down on yourself.”

While Hayden is gunning for his fourth career Road Atlanta victory, he’s hoping that to do so he won’t have to duplicate the last-lap around-the-outside, tire-sliding maneuver he pulled off while charging down the hill in the notorious Turn 12 to defeat Yamaha’s Jason DiSalvo by 0.009 seconds.

Although the pass took place just less than a year ago, it’s already approaching legendary status. “That was probably the best -- and the stupidest -- pass I’ve ever done,” Roger said with a grin. “When you get in the heat of the moment with racing people, sometimes you don’t realize what’s happening. After I did it I got to thinking on the way home about how dumb it was. That’s racing. Once they drop the green flag sometimes you don’t think the best, you just do what you’ve got to do to win.

“A lot of people come up to me and ask me about it and tell me how crazy I am. It’s pretty funny I guess. I won the race and nothing bad happened. Hopefully I won’t have to do that again.”

On a final note -- Hayden is looking like his old self again, having ditched the mustache he sported at Virginia International Raceway. Why? “I got tired of it and it was so ugly I just had to get rid of it. But I may have to bring it back next year.”