MotoGP riders take solace: Nicky Hayden isn’t in a contract year.
The native of Owensboro, Ky., netted his biggest professional conquests — the 2002 AMA Superbike championship and last season’s MotoGP title — as his respective contracts were about to lapse. Hayden, 25, contends that’s just coincidence heading into the series opener Saturday in Qatar.

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