MotoGP: Kawasaki unlikely to offer Roger Lee Hayden 2008 wild card rides

Roger Lee Hayden is unlikely to be offered the chance to wild card for Kawasaki in the two American MotoGP clashes in 2008.

The younger brother of 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden, Roger Lee has already placed an official request to ride a third factory ZX-RR in the Laguna Seca and Indianapolis races later this season.

The Kawasaki American superbike rider impressed last season in Laguna Seca when he finished 10th on his MotoGP debut.

But his hopes of returning to the world stage already appear remote, with Kawasaki team boss Michael Bartholemy saying it was unlikely that Roger Lee Hayden would be drafted in for wild card appearances.

The arrival of John Hopkins at Kawasaki has lessened the need to have an American rider wild card for Laguna Seca and Indianpolis, which are key races for the factories with America being a prominent road bike market.

“It seems unlikely at this moment,” Bartholemy told MCN.

“We have a request from Hayden to make something but last year was a different situation because we had a French and Australian rider.

“It was important to have an American rider in Laguna Seca, but now we have an American rider on our bike so it will not be so easy for us to accommodate Roger.”