Nicky Hayden ruled out of Brno MotoGP

Nicky Hayden will miss this weekend’s Czech Republic MotoGP race as a result of injuries he sustained in a high speed qualifying crash during his home round at Indianapolis last Saturday.

The 2006 world champion broke two bones in his left hand and also suffered concussion after he lost control of his factory Ducati GP12 at Turn 14 at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Hayden was knocked unconscious in the spill and also broke two bones in his right hand but he had hoped to travel to Europe for this weekend’s Brno race.

Hayden underwent medical checks in America earlier today though and he has been ruled out of Brno and a two-day post race test in Misano next week.

He is now targeting a return to action in the Misano race on September 16. Ducati will not replace Hayden this weekend and Valentino Rossi will be the lone factory Desmosedici entrant.

Hayden said: “It’s tough to miss another race. I don’t have big problems, but my hand is still very swollen and I don’t have much strength, and of course right-hand injuries are worse for motorcycle racers. I would have been at far less than 100%, and if I used too much force or crashed again, I could displace the breaks and possibly be in big trouble. Obviously, the head is even more important, and with the amount of time I was unconscious, I’m still dealing with a headache. The main thing is all the doctors told me racing was a really bad idea and not smart, and everybody on my team agreed. As much as the racer in me doesn’t like staying at home and missing track time and points, I need to listen to the experts and try to heal up and get ready for Misano. That’s an important race for me and for Ducati, and I’ll be doing all the rehab to come back as fit as possible. I don’t like it, but it’s the right thing to do.”