MotoGP: Roger Lee Hayden to ride for Kawasaki

Fast family ... Hayden brothers

ROGER LEE Hayden, brother of Nicky Hayden, the MotoGP World Champion, will ride a third Kawasaki MotoGP bike at the United States Grand Prix, on the 22nd of July.

Roger Lee rode a Kawasaki MotoGP bike earlier in the year at Valencia as part of a journalist's test. Roger Lee's track knowledge is said to have been a big influence on Kawasaki's decision to enter him as a wildcard at Laguna Seca

Hayden's entry will also help sell MotoGP tickets as the series is growing in popularity in the States, since Nicky Hayden won the World Championship in 2006 and nothing helps sell more tickets than beefing up the number of Americans on the grid.

The Laguna Seca round will see five American riders on the grid; Nicky and Roger Lee Hayden, Colin Edwards, John Hopkins and Kenny Roberts Jr.

Currently Roger Lee Hayden competes in the AMA Superbike class, riding for Kawasaki where he is currently a below-par 10th in the standings.

Alongside the fierce Kawasaki GP bike, he will also ride his regular mount, a ZX-6R in the Supersport 600 race over the Laguna Seca USGP weekend.