Nicky Hayden gave car enthusiasts a little thrill the other day at what autoguide.com says was “one of the coolest press conferences at this year’s Los Angeles Auto Show”. Hayden rode a Ducati Diavel onto the stage during a Mercedes presser and did a little burnout to celebrate the just-announced partnership between Mercedes AMG and Ducati.
The two companies say they’ll now undertake joint marketing and sponsoring activities, meaning that Hayden and new team-mate Valentino Rossi will be driving around in an AMG (now the official car of the 2011 Ducati MotoGP Team) next year and car geeks will be able test ride Ducati motorcycles at AMG events, while Ducatistas will learn about AMG’s high-performance cars at their gatherings. It’s a win win, as they say.
Watch the video of the Hayden’s hijinx below.