American motorcycle hero Nicky Hayden gave the massive 250,000 plus crowd in attendance at the Indianapolis 500 today a preview of what they can expect when the MotoGP World Championship comes to the capitol of US motorsports on September 12-14.  Riding a Repsol Honda RC212V 2006 MotoGP Champion Hayden ran the first section of the newly prepared motorcycle circuit before running two laps of the fabled two and a half mile banked oval.

Hayden was delighted to be invited to run the MotoGP at the IMS the Repsol Honda factory team rider hails from Owensboro, Kentucky, and the Indianapolis GP will be the grand prix held closest to his home.

Hayden said. "It's great to be able to come here and to show these fans what MotoGP was all about. It's my first time at the 500 and the atmosphere is great. I got to meet Buddy Rice (2004 Indy 500 winner) earlier on and he showed me around his car a bit which was fun. I just hope that a few of the fans who have seen me on the bike today will come back in September, it promises to be a fantastic event as these guys know how to make it good!"

The Indianapolis Grand Prix will run at the newly created 4.216km (2.620 mile) MotoGP circuit housed within the Brickyard oval circuit. The event caters for all three World Championship categories, 125cc, 250cc and the Blue Ribbon MotoGP race for 800cc four-stroke machines.