After his crash in the GP of France that caused damaged cartilage in his ribcage, Nicky Hayden has called for a change to to trackside gravel traps to help protect riders betters when they crash.

According to Nicky his crash got made worse when he was sliding into the trackside gravel trap with a high speed. As soon as Nicky hit the gravel he flipped into the air and suffered his injury as a results.

Nicky Hayden compared his crash with the ones of Alex Barros at the end of 2005 and Valentino Rossi’s crash in Assen last year. Both suffered injuries after being flipped into the air once they hit the gravel.

Nicky Hayden told MCN:

“I’m not complaining but I think we can improve the safety a little bit with the gravel traps. The gravel honestly is still a little bit thick.

I’ve talked to some guys about it. If you look at Barros in Phillip Island, Rossi in Assen and now me in Le Mans, you hit it and just go flipping.

You definitely need it there, especially in the rain because I picked up speed when I started sliding in the first little bit in Le Mans.”