In Le Retro – 10 years ago: How Valentino Rossi returned to the top

Tuesday 26th November 2024 11:28 AM

Moto-Net.Com is republishing this 2014 article in direct connection with these recent publications:

Ten years ago, therefore, on the Journal moto du Net…

With his 13 podiums including two victories and his slap in the face of Marquez and Lorenzo during the , Valentino Rossi rightly takes stock of “very positive” of his 2014 season. For the Doctor, returning to the forefront at 34 obviously requires work, a lot of work, but above all desire… and humility!

“Work hard to get stronger. Without it, you're finished!”

“I think the secret is knowing if you still really want to be part of the game. You have to forget all the victories won in the past and show a lot of humility. We must realize that to continue, we must work hard: if we think too much about past successes, we tell ourselves “I have nine world titles and more than 100 victories”it's better to stay at home“, wisely analyzes the Genius of the Alps.

Rossi second in his “EnduRanch”

Like , Valentino Rossi invited many Italian riders to come and have fun on the dirt tracks of his “MotoRanch”, a complex for “big kids” located a stone's throw from Tavullia – his native village – where Vale regularly enjoys skiing.

Niccolo Bulega, sixth in the CEV Spanish championship in Moto3, and Lorenzo Baldassari, who is moving from Moto3 to Moto2 in 2015, won this 100 km endurance race contested as a team of two. Winner in 2013 with his half-brother Luca Marini, Rossi finished this year in second place while Danilo Petrucci (MotoGP) and Mattia Pasini (Moto2) completed the podium.

We'll let you imagine the happy faces of all the participants, especially the youngsters who are obviously delighted to have a blast with one of the living legends of the motorcycle Grand Prix!

“The sport, the opponents, the tires, the bikes, everything changes very quickly and you have to work hard to become stronger. Without it, you're finished“, continues the No. 46, one of whose secrets to maintaining his motivation is to accumulate riding with young drivers from all backgrounds – – on the dirt tracks of his “ranch”.

“My goal was to be in front, fight with the top three and get on the podium in every race“, recalls Vale who had considered bowing out in the event of his inability to compare with Marquez, Lorenzo and Pedrosa (read in particular MNC of November 28, 2013).

“It wasn't possible last year and I'm happy to have been able to do it this year: I had fun and I was competitive enough to win two races and fight for victory in almost every one. races against Lorenzo and Marquez“, rejoices the transalpine star.

One of the keys to his return to the forefront comes precisely from the careful observation of the riding style of his rivals, thanks to which Rossi was able to understand in which phases to improve to get the most out of modern MotoGP.

By moving his upper body more quickly and more markedly, the Doctor manages to put more stress on his front end when entering curves. He thus managed to get from the very rigid Bridgestone the necessary grip that he had previously lacked to improve his speed.

“I had to make difficult choices”

Second in the general classification behind Marquez – but ahead of his teammate Lorenzo – Valentino Rossi recognizes that one of the keys to his success lies in his decision to change chief engineer, even if after 14 years of fruitful collaborations (7 titles in the premier category !) was not easy.

“The two years with Ducati had been difficult, last year went better but it wasn't enough because I couldn't give my all. So I had to make some tough choices… I made big changes at the start of the season, but it worked out and I'm happy with it“, comments the Yamaha official, also delighted to have had the opportunity to meet his former chief mechanic – whom he calls his “father of MotoGP” – au .

Following a well-deserved retirement, devoted in particular to playing golf in his native Australia, Burgess warmly congratulated Rossi for his second victory of the season won at , while validating the choice of his former foal to oust him…

“It was a good decision: at one point in his career, André Agassi decided to change coaches and it turned out to be the right choice“, assure Burgess. “Not because things weren't going well, but because he was looking for a new path forward and a different motivation. Valentino is always looking for new paths, new stimuli: he needs new challenges to prove that he is still at the level“.

Now looking towards , Valentino Rossi aims to fight for the title – his tenth in Grands Prix – but admits that the challenge will be difficult against his young rivals, Marc Marquez (21) in the lead…

“We are very close to our opponents, but it will be difficult: Lorenzo will be stronger next year and Marquez won the title with 13 victories against two for me. That's 11 more… The difference is huge! To close this gap, we will have to work better with the team, with Silvano (his new chief engineer, Editor’s note), and also on the Yamaha side“.

“This year, especially at the start of the season, the Honda was much more competitive than our bike and the first part of the season was too easy for Marc. To make his task more difficult, we need to be closer to him“, Rossi projects.

Interesting, right?