James Haydon

James Haydon (born 2 November, 1974 in Amersham, Buckinghamshire), is a English motorcycle racer.

Biography

Having already won 4 British 250cc races, he competed in the 1993 British 500cc Grand Prix, finishing 11th to become the youngest ever British points-scorer in a top-division international race. He managed to finish well ahead of the legendary Ron Haslam adding prestige to his performance. Having won a British Superbike race in 1994, he raced full-time in the 500cc world championship class in 1995-1996 for WCM, taking a few top 10 results, and in WSBK in 1997, again with a best result of 9th.

For 1998 he returned home, to the British Superbike championship, and had 4 years of regular success including twice finishing 4th in the standings, and a total of 10 wins. In 2002 he joined Carl Fogarty's Foggy Petronas in WSBK, developing the bike for a year before an unsuccessful year racing it in 2003.

He started 2004 without a ride, but stood in on a Virgin Mobile Yamaha in the British Superbike series for several rounds, taking the bike's only win of the year in the series. He should have spent 2005 on an Airwaves Ducati, but a pre-season injury saw Gregorio Lavilla take over the ride, keeping it after a promising start (and eventually winning the championship on it).

After starting his commentating career with ITV Sport, by mid-season James had a new ride, returning to Suzuki alongside John Reynolds, and spent 2006 with the team alongside 2003 champion Shane Byrne. However, the season included several crashes right from the start. After he missed round 6 through injury, he returned in round 7, and after running off the track he failed to see Dean Thomas taking the normal racing line behind him, causing a huge crash which left Thomas in intensive care. James missed several races before returning, and lost his ride after the 2006 season.

For 2007 he returned to Virgin Yamaha alongside Tommy Hill but parted company with the team in May stating that he had "lost confidence in the tyres and that showed in (his) riding. With no possibility of a testing programme to help (him) rebuild that confidence it seemed impossible to continue". [cite news |title = James to leave Virgin |url = http://www.jameshaydon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=50&Itemid=2 | |date = 2007-05-22 |accessdate = 2007-05-23] he took up an option with Hawk Kawasaki for the rest of the season. [ [http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2007/august/august6-12/august0907jameshaydonunsureonhawkkawasakifuture/?&R=EPI-93413 James Haydon unsure on Hawk Kawasaki future] MCN - 9 August 2007]

Personal life

Married to air hostess Jo, the couple lived in Andorra. [ [http://www.bikegirl.co.uk/babes/racers/jameshaydon.html bikegirl.co.uk - James Haydon ] ] The couple have a son called Zac and a daughter called Maya, and now reside in Berkhamsted. [ [http://www.jameshaydon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=26 James haydon - Profile] JamesHaydon.com]

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.jameshaydon.com James Haydon's official website]