Posted by Administrator on 01-29-2008 at 05:01 am
The following Q&A with MotoGP superstar Valentino Rossi was provided by Fiat Yamaha at the team’s 2008 launch, held at Turin in Italy on Friday.
The former five-times MotoGP world champion is aiming to bounce back from two successive title defeats in 2008, when he will also switch from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres…
Q:
Valentino, firstly can you tell us how your hand is following your injury in Valencia?
Valentino Rossi:
It’s much better than it was! I took some time off after Valencia and missed the Sepang test, but in Jerez at the end of November I was able to ride. It still wasn’t perfect and I had some pain, especially on the last day when I finished early so as not to overdo it, but it was okay. After some more treatment over Christmas I think I will be back to 100% for the first test of 2008.
Q:
After the disappointing end to the season, were you able to take some time to relax completely and fully recover before starting afresh?
Valentino Rossi:
Yes, it was important to take some time to put the bad result of 2007 behind me and of course I thought about the year a lot. But after spending the winter relaxing and recharging the batteries, I am no longer dwelling on it and now I am just looking forward to the new season.
Q:
You have a made a big change to Bridgestone tyres for this season. Can you tell us about your initial impressions of your new tyres and their development so far? Are you happy with your decision?
Valentino Rossi:
It was very exciting to try the new tyres for the first time, and I was eager to see how they were and to meet the new people I will be working with. The first test was just about seeing the level and adjusting the bike to the new tyres, but from the start I was happy with our decision and I am looking forward to working more with Bridgestone and understanding more about their tyres. It’s a big change, but I am positive about the challenge.
Q:
You have had some experience riding the new 2008 prototype M1. Are you happy with it so far?
Valentino Rossi:
We introduced a few pieces of the new bike during the end of season, such as a new cowling, some suspension setting, and others. Let’s say that in Jerez I rode the latest spec, including some new electronic mapping, and my first impressions were quite positive, although of course we still have a long way to go. I was able to give my feedback to Yamaha and over the winter they will have been using my data, and the data of the other Yamaha riders, to develop the bike further. From the first test in January we will begin to work exclusively on the latest new bike and I am looking forward to this.
Q:
What specific areas do you need to concentrate on improving before the first race in Qatar?
Valentino Rossi:
We need a lot of time to find out as much as possible about the Bridgestone tyres and to make sure our bike is working at the maximum with them. We also need a lot of time to develop the new engine and make sure we’re in a better position with regards to top speed. Luckily we have four tests before the first race and I am confident that we will be in good shape at the start of the season. Motivation is high and everyone is working at 100%.
Q:
Are you looking forward to the night race in Qatar? As a member of the safety commission, are you happy with how they’ve prepared the circuit for this event?
Valentino Rossi:
I’m honestly quite excited about this event, I think it’s a fun way to start the season; fun for the fans and something different for the riders! Last year we, the safety commission, made a test on a small part of the track with road bikes and gave our feedback to the circuit about the changes they needed to make before a race could go ahead. Our main worry was the shadow - it needs to be very, very bright in order for the shadows not to be a problem. I wasn’t able to go to the test there in November because of my hand but it seems that the circuit have made a very good job. It will be strange for sure but I think it will be very funny.
Q:
What is your aim for this season?
Valentino Rossi:
My aim is to win, just like every other year. I haven’t won now for two year, the longest period of my grand prix career, and I am aiming to win this year.
Q:
Do you expect Stoner to be your chief rival again? Which other riders are you expecting to be strong?
Valentino Rossi:
Without a doubt I expect Stoner to be as strong, or stronger than last year, and I know we will have to make a great, great fight to beat him. This year I will be on the same tyres as him and I am looking forward to having some great battles with him. Pedrosa of course will also be at the front again as well as many of the others Quite a lot of riders have changed bikes this year and I think it will be very interesting but I am expecting everyone to be competitive from the start; Melandri, Hopkins, Capirossi, Vermeulen etc. I think it will be a very exciting season.
Q:
What do you think about your new team-mate, Jorge Lorenzo?
Valentino Rossi:
He is a great 250cc rider and I am sure that he will be a very good MotoGP rider. Already after just a few tests he has shown a great level of improvement and he is undoubtedly fast. I am sure he will be a good rival in the future.
Q:
The tyre regulations have been slightly altered this season. Do you think it’s enough or would you like to see the limitations removed entirely?
Valentino Rossi:
I’m not too concerned about the tyre regulations. We’re accustomed to the situation now and although I think it’s good that it’s changed slightly, I don’t think it will make much difference. I am starting afresh with regards to tyres and I am not thinking about the limitations, just on developing my new relationship with Bridgestone.
Q:
Did you take part in any other racing activities during the winter, such as rally driving?
Valentino Rossi:
I had planned to compete in the Rally of Great Britain but in the end I was testing in Jerez the new Bridgestones, which was of course more important! As usual I did the rally of Monza which I won for the second time in a row! It is always great fun for me to compete in that race and a win is always great!
Q:
Finally, after two years without a championship, do you think the motivation for you and for the team stronger than ever?
Valentino Rossi:
We have a new and difficult challenge in front of us, which is to win after two years, but with new tyres. It’s all very exciting and the motivation for me is greater than ever and for the team it’s the same; I know that all my guys are as hungry to win again as I am.
Posted by Administrator on 01-26-2008 at 02:01 pm
Nicky Hayden showed Repsol Honda that there is life after Dani Pedrosa by finishing Moto GP’s Sepang test on top of the timesheets.
The Repsol squad were minus the services of their Spanish rider after he broke his hand in a fireball crash on day one at the Malaysian track - rendering him out of action for six weeks.
But Hayden, the 2006 world champion, stepped up to the plate, lowering his best time of the week by over two seconds to set the pace in 2:00.326.
As is customary on the final day of such tests, the top riders all used a couple of low-fuel runs on soft tyres in order to gauge the ultimate pace of their machines in qualifying trim.
It was on his best of these that the 26-year-old American set the pace in what was the quickest time of the week.
In all, three riders bettered the pace set by Randy de Puniet on day two as temperatures reached 34 degrees.
Leading the chase of Hayden was world champion Casey Stoner, who had his best day of the test. The Australian only completed 27 laps during the day though, meaning his Desmosedici GP08 has still yet to complete a race distance.
Much of that though was down to a few minor technical issues with his machine and the fact that he has still to fully recover from a shoulder injury he sustained towards the end of last season.
Surprisingly the top Yamaha rider was rookie Jorge Lorenzo. The double 250cc world champion had his first run with the manufacturer’s pneumatic valve engine and beat his team-mate Valentino Rossi, despite a crash during his long run.
“Unfortunately I crashed about three-quarters of the way through my race simulation,” said Lorenzo. “I was a bit out of the line and when I accelerated I lost control of the bike.
“Before that my pace was not so bad and we had time to gather a lot of information before it happened, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I wasn’t hurt and so after that we started again with Michelin tyre testing and at the end I tried a qualifying tyre which was very good.
“I’m really happy with the team’s work and now we’re waiting for the next test so we can continue improving.”
Fourth was American Colin Edwards for Tech-3 Yamaha while his countryman John Hopkins was fifth as he sampled Kawasaki’s new screamer engine - which is scheduled for use at the ‘power’ circuits for the first time.
Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso’s JiR-Scot Honda were next up with Britain’s James Toseland an impressive eighth for Tech-3.
Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi completed the top ten before handing their bikes over to testers Kosuke Akiyoshi and Nobuatsu Aoki for the afternoon.
Posted by Administrator on 01-25-2008 at 03:01 am
Valentino Rossi rounded off the third day of testing in Malaysia with another day’s solid progress in Sepang today, the Fiat Yamaha Team rider finishing the test sixth overall out of 22 riders testing.
Rossi had time to complete a full race simulation of 21 laps and recorded a general improvement compared to last year’s race, despite slowing down for a lap in the middle in order to give himself a breather as temperatures topped 34 degrees.
Rossi’s best time after 48 laps, a lap of 2′01.425, was posted on a Bridgestone qualifier but the Italian admits there is more work to do in order to maximise bike set-up when using the softer qualifying tyres. Overall it was an extremely positive test for Rossi and his crew, who managed to complete everything on the schedule thanks to good weather throughout.
“The overall balance of the three day test has been very positive and we’ve worked in many different areas”, commented Rossi. “We’ve tested the pneumatic-valve engine and I have a good feeling from it, plus we’ve improved our top speed compared to the race here. I’m happy about the engine so far, although we want to make as much mileage as possible with it in order to check its reliability and performance. We’ve continued to work with the new electronics in braking and acceleration and the new system is helping us to have more control and make less mistakes. Of course we’ve also done a lot of work with Bridgestone on tyres, and we have found some positive things here. We need to improve our performance with the qualifying tyre; we need more time to better understand how to set-up our bike with the soft tyres and so we will continue to work on this next time. We’ve given a lot of information to Bridgestone this week and we look forward to more work together next time. Finally I was able to complete a good race simulation and overall my pace was better than in the race last year, even though I had to slow down for a bit in the middle because it was so hot! Anyway I really wanted to finish so I kept going and in the end I was very happy with my performance. It’s been a good test for us and now we’re looking forward to next time.”
Rossi’s young team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had an equally promising three days and finished the test in third, with a best time of 2′00.766.
The Team will return to Sepang again in ten days time for the second pre-season test of 2008, with another three day’s work planned for 5th, 6th and 7th February.
Fiat Yamaha
Posted by Administrator on 01-22-2008 at 08:01 am
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Moto GP icon Valentino Rossi crashed on the first day of pre-season testing at Malaysia’s Sepang circuit, clearly rusty after a long layoff due to injury, organisers said Tuesday.
The seven-time world champion has been out of action since fracturing his right hand in three places during a qualifying crash at the Valencia Grand Prix in Spain in November.
Sporting a new crew-cut hairstyle, Rossi returned to the track aboard his new 2008 YR-M1 machine but his gestures to his Fiat Yamaha team showed he was not happy with the handling of the bike, organisers said.
“Entering his 20th lap at noon, Rossi crashed at the entry of the sharp Turn 2 after his front wheel gave in,” they said in a statement.
The Italian rider jumped off his bike to escape injury and then walked back and picked up the fallen machine.
“As he rode slowly to the pits (Rossi) was seen holding his left hand with the new machine badly dented on the right side,” it added.
Rossi, who won five world titles in a row from 2001-2005, has struggled in the past two seasons, seeing American Nicky Hayden win in 2006 then Australian Casey Stoner triumph in style last year.
His new team-mate Jorge Lorenzo also had a crash in a disappointing session for Fiat Yamaha. Rossi clocked the eighth fastest time of 2 minutes 3.295 seconds while Lorenzo was fifth fastest with 2 minutes 2.871 seconds.
Stonor went out on the morning practice run but did not finish the lap.
Honda’s Dani Pedrosa clocked the fastest time of 2 minutes 1.864 seconds despite also crashing at turn one.
The Sepang tests will run for three days until Thursday. Afterwards they will shift to Phillip Island in Melbourne before returning to Sepang on February 4-6 for a second round of testing.
Posted by Administrator on 01-20-2008 at 01:01 pm
Former world champion Valentino Rossi has dampened speculation he is close to leaving Yamaha and expects to be more competitive in MotoGP this year on his new Bridgestone tyres.
The Italian, who was a disappointing third last season behind champion Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, has switched to Bridgestone from Michelins.
A winner of seven world titles, his finish outside the top two for the first time in any category since his rookie season in 1996 also led Rossi to hint at a move to Ducati last year.
But he was back in buoyant mood at the launch of Yamaha’s new M1 bike on Friday.
“This is a very important year as we have got to try to be competitive again. I think we have great potential. We should have learnt from last year’s mistakes,” Rossi told a packed auditorium in Turin. “My dream is to end my career with Yamaha. If we have a competitive bike it is possible to continue to the end. I hope I’ll be riding for many years to come.”
Yamaha will be in an unusual situation this season with Rossi on Bridgestones and new team mate Jorge Lorenzo, Spain’s 250cc double world champion, riding on Michelins.
Team officials said tyre data on the two bikes would be kept separate to avoid the sort of spy scandal which dogged Formula One last season when McLaren obtained Ferrari information.
“We made a courageous decision and now we’ll have to see whether we were right or not. The tyre decision was quite a gamble,” Rossi said.
The 28-year-old will be fit for the first race in Qatar on March 9 despite breaking bones in his right hand in a crash in qualifying for November’s season-ending Valencia Grand Prix.
“My hand is not too bad, I had it X-rayed yesterday as the little finger still hurts. There is a ligament that is not quite right, but it shouldn’t bother me riding the bike,” he said.
Qatar will be the first MotoGP race held at night and Rossi is still not convinced about the decision.
“At the moment I don’t like the idea of riding at night. But if the lights work well it will be good,” added Rossi, who also said he thought MotoGP would one day take Formula One’s lead and dump some of the electronics used to aid riders.
England football coach Fabio Capello became the latest Italian sport personality to be named in a tax probe this week. Rossi is also being investigated over his decision to reside in Britain.
“I am becoming an expert on taxation. We are talking a lot and trying to find a solution as quickly as possible,” he said.
Reuters
« Previous Entries
