Hailing from the US dirt track arena, Hayden won his first Grand National Championship race in 1999, the same year he won the AMA Supersport road race championship on-board a privateer Honda. In 2002 he became the youngest ever AMA Superbike Champion before moving directly to the MotoGP™ class aboard a factory Honda machine. Clinching the World Championship in 2006, the final year of the 990cc machines, Hayden made the switch to Ducati in 2009 after six years with the Japanese factory. After initially struggling to get to grips with the Desmosedici in his maiden year, the 'Kentucky Kid' made a vast improvement in 2010, finishing seventh overall. He and former Honda team-mate Valentino Rossi suffered a somewhat disastrous 2011 season on-board both the GP11 and GP11.1 Ducatis, though he managed a podium in Jerez. 2012 saw Hayden aboard a 1000cc GP12 in a year that was plagued slightly through injury. He aimed to start the season strongly in 2013, as he contested his fifth year with the Italian outfit; it would also prove to be his last, as the bike was again off the pace and at times unreliable. For 2014, Hayden returned to a Honda as he raced the new RCV1000R for Drive M7 Aspar, but wrist problems disrupted his season. On Open Honda machinery with Aspar in 2015 Hayden undertakes his 13th MotoGP campaign.