Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Seven Stars Honda 11’s Nicky Hayden is out of the Suzuka 8-Hours race, according to sources with the team.

Seven Stars Honda 11 was excluded from the results when Hayden received help from the crash truck to get back to the pits. A press officer for Seven Stars Honda 11 confirmed that the team was out of the race.

In addition, Yoshimura Suzuki GP1 Daxim and Sakurai Honda 74 are also out of the race for receiving assistance to get back to the pits.

According to Hayden’s father, Earl, Nicky Hayden saw oil flags displayed as he entered turn one, slowed down but still crashed along with Atsushi Watanabe. Hayden may have suffered some road rash on a thumb, according to his father, but was otherwise uninjured.

Okada, who crashed in the same spot as Hayden and Watanabe one lap later, may have crashed in the same oil.

English-speaking Suzuka Circuit media center staffers could not confirm that oil was on the track.

One unidentified bike was seen smoking on the first lap of the race on television monitors.


According to a Seven Stars Honda 11 press officer, the team is protesting the decision to exclude them from the results. Their grounds for the protest is that Hayden did not ask for the assistance of the crash truck to come back to the pits. The team is repairing its bike and preparing to re-enter the race. Stay tuned for details as they become available.