Nicky Hayden's new number

[tha_jackal]

Bit off topic maybe;
will Bayliss drive no1 this year?

Nope, he said last time he wore number one things didnt go so well..

[RaikkonenRules]

Nope, he said last time he wore number one things didnt go so well..

Yeah same thing happened with James Toseland and Troy Corser. And Kenny Roberts in 2001 for that matter

[Corny]

Yeah same thing happened with James Toseland and Troy Corser. And Kenny Roberts in 2001 for that matter

And Nicky in 2007

[jim mcglinchey]

ooooh thats cruel.

[MrJan]

but probably true : I don't see why it's a problem to have the number 1. Being champion entitles him to it so he may as well have it. That said I think that if I raced I'd be number 48 and stick to it no matter what.

[NinjaMaster]

I'm not sure why this is even an issue. Why wouldn't he run the number 1 plate? It's the only exclusive plate you can run and differentiates the champion from the rest of the field. A rider can run any number, any time but the number 1 is exclusive only to the champion. The thing I don't understand is why a champion would not want to run the number 1 plate. Rossi made it cool again after Barry Sheene did it and now everyone is doing it. I hate it.

[harsha]

it really doesn't matter what number plate he drives in....does it,and it's not hogson,it's hodson....bah,never was good at spelling hogdson anyway :

[maxu05]

Don't mention that name

[ChrisS]

There are quite a few riders who like to keep their set number. Others switch about a lot, Edwards is one that springs to mind.

Wayne Gardner used to change his number to the championship position he finished the year before. Edwards did something similar in WSBK taking #5 when he finished 5th then 2 then 1 then 2 again. he did the same in motoGP taking #5 when he finished 5th in 2004 but has not changed his number since.

[ChrisS]

BTW Talking of rider numbers, notice how Melandri changed the font of his #33 to subliminally advertise his personal sponsor, UK's 3 mobile network