James Haydon
Encyclopedia
James Richard Barnaby Haydon (born 2 November 1973 in Amersham
, Buckinghamshire), was a world class motorcycle racer. He raced in 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix, MotoGP and the World Superbike Championship. He retired in 2008.
James now manages young riders and works in television. He presents shows for ITV and British Eurosport. He also commentates for Eurosport on the World Superbike Championship and British Superbike Championship coverage, and he covers some Moto GP races when the regular commentators are unavailable. He has worked for the BBC, Sky Sports, Motors TV, Al Jazeera and Radio 5 live and is seen as a rising talent within the media side of the sport.
adding more prestige to his great performance. He won his first British Superbike race in 1994 along with two more national 250cc victories that year.
For 1995 he then jumped straight into the top level 500cc world championship class as a privateer (1995 for Harris and 1996 for WCM). He took some stunning top 10 results and impressed many with his speed on an uncompetitive bike. He moved to the WSBK
in 1997 but with a Team who struggled with finance and an old motorcycle. He had a torrid time with a best result of 9th in the world.
After three years in the World Championship for 1998 he returned home to the ultra competitiveBritish Superbike
championship. He surprised many with a podium in his first race before going on to have many years of impressive success. He quickly became a crowd and sponsor favourite with his exciting all action style, never give up attitude and screen presence. He raced for Team Suzuki, Team Red Bull Ducati, Team Yamaha and Team Kawasaki. Never the luckiest rider many felt one of his best chances for the Championship came in 2000 for Ducati. Whilst leading the Championship a terrible mid season car accident (in which he was a passenger) damaged his neck and nerves badly. This caused him serious problems when racing and training and ruined his season. He twice finished 4th in the standings and was always one of the fastest riders, with multiple lap records and fastest laps throughout his BSB career. He won a total of 11 races and had over 30 podiums in BSB.
In 2002 he joined Carl Fogarty
's Foggy Petronas
in the WSBK
, developing the new bike for the first year. It was hoplessly unreliable with multiple blow ups, lack of parts and problems dogging it throughout the year. One of the lowest points came when the gearbox locked up in Germany and caused a horrific accident (putting him out for the middle of the season). His high point was a best result of 7th in Japan.
In 2004 he nearly retired after the mentally and physically draining previous season and started it without a ride. But his pedigree could not be ignored and he was soon called up to stand in at Virgin Mobile
Yamaha
in the British Superbike series. He immediately turned the Teams season around taking the bikes and Teams only win of the year and also putting it on the podium. Despite missing many rounds he beat all the other riders in the team and finished top Yamaha in Britain. It was also the only season in his career that he never crashed, not even in practice. At the end of the season he also raced in the last few MotoGP's for Kenny Roberts Proton team. His best result an impressive 12th place in Qatar.
2004 had been such a good season that he signed a prestigious two year deal for Airwaves Ducati (one of the top teams in Britain). He should have spent 2005 and 2006 on an Airwaves Ducati
but an unlucky pre-season testing injury at Albacete saw Gregorio Lavilla
take over his ride and then keeping it after a promising start (and eventually winning the championship on it). With no ride he became 'Super Sub' once again, filling in for various teams throughout 2005. Eventually ending up at Team Suzuki (after John Reynolds was injured). He immediately beat his new team mate (Scott Smart) and when the injured John Reynolds returned, the Team kept Haydon not Smart and he rewarded them with some strong results including a podium.
This was good enough for an offer to stay with the Team for 2006 alongside 2003 champion Shane Byrne
. After a strong start at Oulton Park on identical bikes, James was made to run a different development bike with a changed weight balance. He disliked the new bike and blamed his sudden poor form and crashes on the change of machine. After a heavy crash he missed round 6 through injury then returned at Snetterton for Round 7. In race 2 a serious brake problem at the end of the Revvit straight caused him to run off the track at high speed. Unable to slow properly he shot across the track and collided with Dean Thomas taking the normal racing line behind him. This caused an unfortunate crash which left Thomas and Haydon in intensive care. Both riders eventually recovered although only Haydon returned to race that season as Thomas' injurys were more severe.
For 2007 he returned to Virgin Yamaha alongside Tommy Hill
. But he parted company with the team stating that he had "lost confidence in the development Pirelli tyres they were forced to run and that showed in (his) riding. With no possibility of a testing programme to help (him) rebuild that confidence it seemed impossible to continue". N.B. Virgin Yamaha were the only team in Britain to run Pirelli tyres that year against the established Michelin and Dunlop. Later that year he signed as 'Super Sub' for Hawk Kawasaki and in his first race with them he beat his team mate and finished top Kawasaki. He continued that form for most of the season.
For 2008 Hawk Kawasaki offered Haydon a season contract. However two weeks before the start of the race season they were forced to pull out when one of their main sponsors withdrew. So he was once again without a ride.
But he was contacted by Eurosport and decided he would leave racing and go and work for them instead. He has never raced at the top level since.
Says James "After a long career my time had come to retire from racing bikes. It was a difficult choice for sure as there is never a 'right' time as such. But you have to remember I'd been racing bikes most weekends for 25 years now. From a small kid on the dirt all the way to the best circuits in the world. I've had an amazing time too! I've travelled the world and spanned some really cool era's in Bikes. From 170 Bhp 500cc V4 2 Strokes to 230Bhp 1000cc 4 strokes. I've raced them all. From the likes of Schwantz, Doohan, Criville, Cadalora up to Bayliss, Biaggi and Rossi. Wish I had beaten a few more of them mind you! But seriously I feel blessed to have done something I really loved and been paid for it. Awesome! Now it's time for the next chapter of life".
James now commentates for British Eurosport, mainly on the British Superbike Championship. He is also a regular studio guest on the live World Superbike Championship rounds. For the first time in 3 years James got back on a modern bike at the 2010 British Superbike Championship round at Brands Hatch
, James joined the select few and rode some fast demo laps on the 2010 Rizla Suzuki
Moto GP bike. bike.
. The couple have a son called Zac and a daughter called Maya, and now reside in Amersham
.
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
, Buckinghamshire), was a world class motorcycle racer. He raced in 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix, MotoGP and the World Superbike Championship. He retired in 2008.
James now manages young riders and works in television. He presents shows for ITV and British Eurosport. He also commentates for Eurosport on the World Superbike Championship and British Superbike Championship coverage, and he covers some Moto GP races when the regular commentators are unavailable. He has worked for the BBC, Sky Sports, Motors TV, Al Jazeera and Radio 5 live and is seen as a rising talent within the media side of the sport.
Biography
James was spotted young and at 19 having already won 4 British Championship 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 World Championship race. He managed to finish well ahead of the legendary Ron HaslamRon Haslam
Ronald Haslam is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who has been racing for over thirty years, winning three World titles, four British championships and having ridden in almost 110 GPs....
adding more prestige to his great performance. He won his first British Superbike race in 1994 along with two more national 250cc victories that year.
For 1995 he then jumped straight into the top level 500cc world championship class as a privateer (1995 for Harris and 1996 for WCM). He took some stunning top 10 results and impressed many with his speed on an uncompetitive bike. He moved to the WSBK
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship is the worldwide Superbike racing Championship. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Championship season consists of a series of rounds held on permanent racing facilities...
in 1997 but with a Team who struggled with finance and an old motorcycle. He had a torrid time with a best result of 9th in the world.
After three years in the World Championship for 1998 he returned home to the ultra competitiveBritish Superbike
British Superbike
The British Superbike Championship is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom.The championship is managed and organised by MotorSport Vision. The Series and Race Director is Stuart Higgs. Event marshals are provided by the Racesafe Marshals Association.Two annual...
championship. He surprised many with a podium in his first race before going on to have many years of impressive success. He quickly became a crowd and sponsor favourite with his exciting all action style, never give up attitude and screen presence. He raced for Team Suzuki, Team Red Bull Ducati, Team Yamaha and Team Kawasaki. Never the luckiest rider many felt one of his best chances for the Championship came in 2000 for Ducati. Whilst leading the Championship a terrible mid season car accident (in which he was a passenger) damaged his neck and nerves badly. This caused him serious problems when racing and training and ruined his season. He twice finished 4th in the standings and was always one of the fastest riders, with multiple lap records and fastest laps throughout his BSB career. He won a total of 11 races and had over 30 podiums in BSB.
In 2002 he joined Carl Fogarty
Carl Fogarty
Carl 'Foggy' Fogarty is the most successful World Superbike racer of all time in terms of the number of championships and number of race wins...
's Foggy Petronas
Petronas
PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...
in the WSBK
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship is the worldwide Superbike racing Championship. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Championship season consists of a series of rounds held on permanent racing facilities...
, developing the new bike for the first year. It was hoplessly unreliable with multiple blow ups, lack of parts and problems dogging it throughout the year. One of the lowest points came when the gearbox locked up in Germany and caused a horrific accident (putting him out for the middle of the season). His high point was a best result of 7th in Japan.
In 2004 he nearly retired after the mentally and physically draining previous season and started it without a ride. But his pedigree could not be ignored and he was soon called up to stand in at Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a brand used by many mobile phone service providers across the globe; its headquarters are based in the United Kingdom. Virgin Mobile has local operations in Australia, Canada, France, India, South Africa, Greece, United Kingdom and the United States. It briefly also had operations...
Yamaha
Yamaha Motor Company
, is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...
in the British Superbike series. He immediately turned the Teams season around taking the bikes and Teams only win of the year and also putting it on the podium. Despite missing many rounds he beat all the other riders in the team and finished top Yamaha in Britain. It was also the only season in his career that he never crashed, not even in practice. At the end of the season he also raced in the last few MotoGP's for Kenny Roberts Proton team. His best result an impressive 12th place in Qatar.
2004 had been such a good season that he signed a prestigious two year deal for Airwaves Ducati (one of the top teams in Britain). He should have spent 2005 and 2006 on an Airwaves Ducati
Ducati Motor Holding
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. is a motorcycle manufacturer in Bologna, Italy. It produces motorcycles for both road use and motorcycle racing.- History :...
but an unlucky pre-season testing injury at Albacete saw Gregorio Lavilla
Gregorio Lavilla
Gregorio Lavilla born September 29, 1974 in Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant, Tarragona, Spain is a professional motorcycle road racer. He has raced in MotoGP , the Superbike World Championship, and the British Superbike Championship, taking the British crown in 2005...
take over his ride and then keeping it after a promising start (and eventually winning the championship on it). With no ride he became 'Super Sub' once again, filling in for various teams throughout 2005. Eventually ending up at Team Suzuki (after John Reynolds was injured). He immediately beat his new team mate (Scott Smart) and when the injured John Reynolds returned, the Team kept Haydon not Smart and he rewarded them with some strong results including a podium.
This was good enough for an offer to stay with the Team for 2006 alongside 2003 champion Shane Byrne
Shane Byrne (motorcycle racer)
Shane 'Shakey' Byrne , often known as Shakey, is a British motorcycle road racer. He is a two-time champion of the British Superbike Championship , a race winner in the Superbike World Championship and a former competitor in MotoGP.-Early days:While working as a road tester for Colin Schiller's...
. After a strong start at Oulton Park on identical bikes, James was made to run a different development bike with a changed weight balance. He disliked the new bike and blamed his sudden poor form and crashes on the change of machine. After a heavy crash he missed round 6 through injury then returned at Snetterton for Round 7. In race 2 a serious brake problem at the end of the Revvit straight caused him to run off the track at high speed. Unable to slow properly he shot across the track and collided with Dean Thomas taking the normal racing line behind him. This caused an unfortunate crash which left Thomas and Haydon in intensive care. Both riders eventually recovered although only Haydon returned to race that season as Thomas' injurys were more severe.
For 2007 he returned to Virgin Yamaha alongside Tommy Hill
Tommy Hill
Tommy Hill is a British motorcycle road racer, he was born 9 February 1985 in Beckenham, Kent. His greatest success has come in the British Superbike Championship, in which he is the 2011 Champion, but he has also contested the World Superbike and World Supersport championships.-Personal:Hill's...
. But he parted company with the team stating that he had "lost confidence in the development Pirelli tyres they were forced to run and that showed in (his) riding. With no possibility of a testing programme to help (him) rebuild that confidence it seemed impossible to continue". N.B. Virgin Yamaha were the only team in Britain to run Pirelli tyres that year against the established Michelin and Dunlop. Later that year he signed as 'Super Sub' for Hawk Kawasaki and in his first race with them he beat his team mate and finished top Kawasaki. He continued that form for most of the season.
For 2008 Hawk Kawasaki offered Haydon a season contract. However two weeks before the start of the race season they were forced to pull out when one of their main sponsors withdrew. So he was once again without a ride.
But he was contacted by Eurosport and decided he would leave racing and go and work for them instead. He has never raced at the top level since.
Says James "After a long career my time had come to retire from racing bikes. It was a difficult choice for sure as there is never a 'right' time as such. But you have to remember I'd been racing bikes most weekends for 25 years now. From a small kid on the dirt all the way to the best circuits in the world. I've had an amazing time too! I've travelled the world and spanned some really cool era's in Bikes. From 170 Bhp 500cc V4 2 Strokes to 230Bhp 1000cc 4 strokes. I've raced them all. From the likes of Schwantz, Doohan, Criville, Cadalora up to Bayliss, Biaggi and Rossi. Wish I had beaten a few more of them mind you! But seriously I feel blessed to have done something I really loved and been paid for it. Awesome! Now it's time for the next chapter of life".
James now commentates for British Eurosport, mainly on the British Superbike Championship. He is also a regular studio guest on the live World Superbike Championship rounds. For the first time in 3 years James got back on a modern bike at the 2010 British Superbike Championship round at Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch
Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near West Kingsdown in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently holds many British and international racing events...
, James joined the select few and rode some fast demo laps on the 2010 Rizla Suzuki
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
Moto GP bike. bike.
Personal life
Married to air hostess Jo, the couple lived in AndorraAndorra
Andorra , officially the Principality of Andorra , also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, , is a small landlocked country in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is the sixth smallest nation in Europe having an area of...
. The couple have a son called Zac and a daughter called Maya, and now reside in Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
.