Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

By David Swarts

2002 AMA Superbike Champion Nicky Hayden will ride a full factory HRC Honda RC211V in the 2003 MotoGP season but is still unsure which team he’ll ride for.

“I’m not sure of what team I’ll be on,” said 21-year-old Hayden in a telephone call to Roadracingworld.com Friday. “We just did the deal yesterday. I mean, we did it at lunchtime yesterday (Thursday) and announced it at the dealer meeting last night. So I don’t know a lot of details. I will definitely be on an HRC factory bike, though. That’s the main thing, what really matters.”

Hayden said he didn’t remember all of the names of the people present at the finalizing of his deal, but he did say that the President of Honda was there. “Not the President of American Honda or the President of Honda Motorcycles, but the President of all Honda. They said it was his first time ever coming to a dealer show in America,” explained Hayden.

“I’m just really excited about it! This is what I’ve wanted. This is what I’ve been working for all along.”

Hayden said that he would like to take some members of his current American Honda crew with him to his new MotoGP team but didn’t even know if that was possible. “I don’t even know when my first test is or anything. I’m going to try and hit the last couple of GPs, to go over and get a feel for things.”

So what will Hayden do on his first weekend knowing he will be a Grand Prix racer? “I’m flying down to Tunica, Mississippi for a dirt track.”