Nicky Hayden to stand in for Miller at Aragon?

2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden is ready to stand in for Assen race winner Jack Miller should the Australian not be fit enough to ride in Aragon next weekend. 

Since winning his first MotoGP race in Assen at the back end of June, Miller has suffered a serious of injuries which have really hampered his second season in MotoGP. Before the start of the season, Miller suffered a broken tibia and fibula, before later breaking his. In the Red Bull Ring in Austria he then injured his back and with hand problems too Miller was forced by his team to sit out of the last race in Misano, turning 2016 into a bittersweet year for ‘Jackass’. 

Whilst a decision is expected to be made imminently by the Marc VDS, team principal Michael Bartholemy said that if it were up to him, Miller wouldn’t be racing in Assen and would instead target the Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi as his next race.

“I want Jack sitting again,” Bartholemy told German website speedweek.com. “We then have four weeks for recovery for the Japanese GP. The decision will now come this weekend or at the beginning of next week. If it comes to me, Jack Miller will not drive in Aragon. I think it’s nonsense.”

There were question marks over whether Miller would be fit enough to race at Silverstone, and with question marks over his fitness, Marc VDS and Honda contacted the American as a potential stand in. Whilst not required in Silverstone, the Honda World Superbike star may get his MotoGP comeback next weekend. 

Whilst there hasn’t been any confirmation from Honda, Nicky Hayden all but confirmed the news himself after Race One of the German World Superbike weekend in Lausitzring. 

“There opportunity is there, but there are a few things to fix. If it happens, of course it will be fun to ride in MotoGP again. We’ll have to see what happens. Right now I’m only thinking about doing as much as possible here at Lausitzring and SBK.”

Should Hayden find himself replacing Miller in the Marc VDS, he would join Alex Lowes as a World Superbike rider standing in for a MotoGP rider in Aragon.

Photos via Marc VDS and Honda World Superbike