Rossi/RRX interview

[gm2]

part 1 of 4:

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/website-exclusive/rrx-exclusive-valentino-rossi-interview-part-1/

[gm2]

pt 2

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/website-exclusive/rrx-exclusive-valentino-rossi-interview-part-2/


Is there anyone, besides you, who can be defined as an inventor of passes?
Lorenzo. Yes, he surprises you. He’s someone who, when he gets behind a rider, and he gets any chance, he immediately passes.

More than Stoner?
Oh, yes, for sure. In “man to man,” Lorenzo seems to me to be the most difficult to face. I have to say that for that reason, he’s also the rider who’s the most fun to battle with. Lorenzo is someone who doesn’t hold back.

[El Matador]

pt 2

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/website-exclusive/rrx-exclusive-valentino-rossi-interview-part-2/


Is there anyone, besides you, who can be defined as an inventor of passes?
Lorenzo. Yes, he surprises you. He’s someone who, when he gets behind a rider, and he gets any chance, he immediately passes.

More than Stoner?

Wohooo. I hope he can manage to stay out of orbit this season.
Oh, yes, for sure. In “man to man,” Lorenzo seems to me to be the most difficult to face. I have to say that for that reason, he’s also the rider who’s the most fun to battle with. Lorenzo is someone who doesn’t hold back.

[pennyrobber]

By staying out of orbit do you mean not trying to go for the world record for highest highside?

[Triple J]

Part 3 (couldn't wait for gm2  ):

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/website-exclusive/rrx-exclusive-valentino-rossi-interview-part-3/

Speaking of new arrivals, what’s your impression of Ben Spies?
Very, very strong. He could put himself among us four every now and then.

Does he ask you for anything, being a Yamaha rider?
Absolutely not. I saw him at Sepang, at the track: I spoke to him for a minute, but not about stuff like that.

Could that be a sign of weakness?
Or maybe because a rider thinks mainly about himself, how he does things. It’s not like Spies is thinking, I’m going to ask Valentino how to ride this Yamaha. He’ll want to understand it on his own. But he’s done many consecutive fast laps, and immediately going fast at a track like Sepang isn’t easy. Even if….

Even if?
It’s also definitely true that he got on a bike that already works very well, and using the base setup was enough to immediately go fast. If he had arrived in MotoGP with Honda, he’d be having a lot of trouble right now.

[Spidey]

Man, Rossi's totally transparent.  I love that guy.  Here's my translation of some of his comments --

Lorenzo is my main competition because I've already broken Stoner.
Biaggi is a loser.
My favorite/best races are the ones where I broke my then main competitor.
Lorenzo is fast because I developed the bike for him.
Spies is fast and Simoncelli is not because they're on Yami/Honda respectively.
Racing is fun.  Talking to you idiots is not.  If I stop racing, I'll still have to talk to you idiots.
Lorenzo is a better racer than Stoner.

[Jester]

I don't really get anywhere that he has broken Stoner.  I take away that he respects the fact Stoner is batshit fast, but thinks Lorenzo has better racecraft... and in an equal fight, Lorenzo is much more difficult to deal with than Stoner in the same situation.

[gm2]

I don't really get anywhere that he has broken Stoner.  I take away that he respects the fact Stoner is batshit fast, but thinks Lorenzo has better racecraft... and in an equal fight, Lorenzo is much more difficult to deal with than Stoner in the same situation.

+1

i just think he's a lot less concerned about stoner than he is george.  either stoner is gone or he's within reach and rossi is going to get him.  there's not much more to know about him.

[not that it's not a monumental talent] stoner's one talent is that he is fast as hell.  and fast as hell from the moment the lights go out... which is REALLY hard to do.  but racecraft is not his strong point.  he's never going to set up a last lap, last corner catalunya pass.

[Spidey]

Look at the way that he now focuses on Lorenzo and not on Stoner.  And look at how much he prizes Laguna 2008 as a feather in his cap.   It's cuz he broke Stoner and he knows it.   And it's time to move on to breaking Lorenzo.


P.S.  Maybe "broke" is too strong a word.  He broke Max.  And he broke Gibs.  He didn't break Stoner in quite the same way.  And maybe not as permanently.  But he still broke him.

[gm2]

yeah, ok, true.  something did happen there that was... permanent.

i still giggle at all the press rossi did in the couple days leading up to laguna that year   

[Triple J]

He definitely broke him that season.

This season will be interesting as Stoner seems to have his confidence back.

I agree about Lorenzo having better racecraft, but didn't Stoner beat Rossi a couple seasons ago in a last lap pass after battling for quite a while? Derby?? He just has to be able to do it consistently.

edit...I was thinking of '07 Cataluyna, where Stoner and Rossi went back and forth quite a bit and Stoner won.

[El Matador]

He definitely broke him that season.

This season will be interesting as Stoner seems to have his confidence back.

I agree about Lorenzo having better racecraft, but didn't Stoner beat Rossi a couple seasons ago in a last lap pass after battling for quite a while? Derby?? He just has to be able to do it consistently.

edit...I was thinking of '07 Cataluyna, where Stoner and Rossi went back and forth quite a bit and Stoner won.

I wouldn't consider stoner broken; not just yet. Just a little shaken.

I don't know about Lorenzo having better racecraft than stoner though. Stoner is the more technical than Lorenzo, the difference is that Lorenzo has no sense of self preservation. He is willing to go balls out, 100% on the limit, all the time. Which makes him the more interesting rider.

[gm2]

pt 4

http://www.roadracerx.com/features/website-exclusive/rrx-exclusive-valentino-rossi-interview-part-4/

[Spidey]

You and Yamaha have gone through a lot together. There’s a lot of pressure on you to change, but in the end, why should you?
That’s a good question, and I’ve asked myself the same thing many times. To change, you have to think you’re going to a place that’s better, and for me it’s difficult to think that there’s a place where I could be happier than at Yamaha. It would be nice to change because, for example, Ducati is an Italian brand and the fans would be happy, but in the end, you can’t make these decisions just for emotional reasons. You also have to consider that you’ll have to work. So….

So?
So, we’ll see.


Oh, really?!?  That's a little different than "I want to stay with Yamaha."

[gm2]

and a lot different than "i'm not talking about it anymore."

imo he wants to go.. or wants to want to go.  he's just not sure it's best idea.  heart vs head.

i think in many respects it comes down to whether or not suppo gets lorentho to move.