MotoGP officials have confirmed that 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden has suffered severe brain damage, following a cycling incident in Italy on Wednesday.
Hayden was out training, following last weekend’s Superbike World Championship round, when he was struck by a car along the Adriatic coast.
Emergency services were swiftly on the scene and Hayden was transported to a local medical facility, before being transferred to the Maurizio Bufalini Hospital in Cesena.
Hayden's Honda team confirmed on Thursday that he was in an Intensive Care Unit, though no further updates on his condition were issued.
A further bulletin on Thursday afternoon followed, issued by the hospital, which read: "Nicky Hayden’s clinical condition remains extremely critical.
"The young man, who is still in the intensive care unit of Cesena’s Bufalini hospital, has suffered a serious polytrauma with subsequent serious cerebral damage. The prognosis remains reserved."
Hayden's close family have travelled from the United States to be by his bed side.
