Nicky Hayden rides MotoGP demo lap at Indy 500

The USA´s most recent MotoGP World Champion was given a hero´s welcome by American race-fans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday as he undertook a demonstration lap on his Honda RC212V, shortly before the start of the 92nd staging of the Indianapolis 500 race.

Around 250,000 spectators were gathered at IMS for the world´s biggest motorsports event and the crowd saw Hayden take in the first section of newly created 2.620-mile MotoGP circuit, before completing two circuits of the main Indianapolis oval on his 800cc Repsol Honda prototype. The 2006 World Champion Hayden, who was born and raised in nearby Kentucky, will expect huge support when he and his MotoGP rivals return to race in the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, on the 12th-14th September weekend.

Having inaugurated the newly-configured road course at the IMS in April, lapping the circuit on a 1909 Indian motorcycle, Hayden is already a big fan of the latest addition to the MotoGP calendar.

He commented: `It´s great to be able to come here and to show these fans what MotoGP was all about. It´s my first time at the 500 and the atmosphere is great. I got to meet Buddy Rice (2004 Indy 500 winner) earlier on and he showed me around his car a bit which was fun. I just hope that a few of the fans who have seen me on the bike today will come back in September, it promises to be a fantastic event as these guys know how to make it good!´