Valentino Rossi autobiography

This 288 page book goes into details of life of Valentino Rossi, one of the best MotoGP racers ever. Autobiography provides inside details of both on-track and off-track life of living motorcycle legend, allowing reader to get better understanding of life and achievement of Valentino Rossi.
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Casey Stoner 2010 Ducati

Diecast model of the 2010 Ducati Desmosedici GP10 of Casey Stoner. This 1:10 model is a valuable piece of MotoGP history, being the bike Stoner last ridden before his switch to Honda.
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2007-09-22  Motegi rider claims after qualification
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Situation we saw these days in Motegi was bit different from what we have expected to see after two years of Ducati/Bridgestone domination on this track. Michelin has returned to the top on the enemy territory, picking top three spots on the grid. Pedrosa seems to be man on the mission, with Rossi close behind, while Casey Stoner seems to be in lot of a trouble. Read rider thoughts after qualifying in Motegi. Dani Pedrosa  - Pole Position - 1:45.846: I’m very happy to be on pole position and it’s been a little while since I’ve been on the front row so today went very well for us, all in all. We’ve spent today mostly working on race tyre selection and it looks like we’ve got good pace in all the conditions we’ve had so far this weekend. We’ll have to look at the weather for tomorrow to make our final selection of race tyre, but I think we’re looking pretty good, and hopefully the endurance will be there too because we’ve tested for that by putting in a lot of laps on the same tyre. We’re in a good position for the race, but anything can happen. The weather is looking like it will change and we’ve seen first corner incidents at this circuit before. I hope we get through the first corner cleanly and have a good race at Honda’s home track. Valentino Rossi - 2nd; I'm in good shape and I'm very happy with this result after the problems we had yesterday. We were struggling a lot but everyone has worked very hard and today has been much, much better. We tried some modifications and now I can use the throttle well and the grip from the tyres is good. In fact today the tyre situation is really a lot better and I can use my M1 how I want to, with a good rhythm. This morning especially was a big improvement although this afternoon we tried some different things again and it wasn't quite so good to start with. Pedrosa's rhythm is slightly better than mine at the moment so we have one or two things to work on, but we're definitely in a good position and we are starting from the front row, which is the most important factor. I was very happy with the qualifying tyres because I was able to do two laps with the second one. Michelin brought a new tyre and asked that I try for a second lap and it worked well, so this is very encouraging. Now I am really looking forward to the race; it's going to be hard in this heat but we will do our best and see what happens. Nicky Hayden - 3rd: I definitely have to say thanks to the team because we made quite a lot of progress straight away this morning and I felt a lot more comfortable on the bike. I’m not completely thrilled with my second qualifying lap though. My first two splits were quite good but then I made a little mistake and in the last part of the lap I didn’t put it together clean enough. I really didn’t improve my time from my first qualifier to my second one and with these boys that won’t cut it. Nevertheless I’m happy to be on the front row – that’s four in a row – and the bike, tyres and everything is working pretty well so I’m excited for the race. I know it’s going to be difficult tomorrow because there are a lot of guys going quickly but hopefully we’ve got a package that we can do something with. This afternoon I was able to put in some decent laps on a used race tyre so I’m excited for the race. Randy de Puniet - 4th: I'm a little bit disappointed because I wanted to be on the first row but it wasn't possible. I gave the maximum, and I was still going well on the last lap, but Checa was in front of me and I lost a few tenths so couldn't make it. Still, I hope to do okay in the race. I'm very happy to be the first Bridgestone rider on the grid, everybody's done a great job so far this weekend and I feel comfortable with the bike, the race tyres and I hope to go well tomorrow. Toni Elias - 5th: It was a difficult session but we found the right way forward in the end. I'm happy with fifth place - it is very important for us and a good qualifying position was the first objective we set for ourselves this weekend. The team have worked really well and we'll try to make another small step forward in the warm-up tomorrow. I'm confident - I like this track and considering my physical condition I have to be satisfied. I am still suffering from pain in my left leg and I have to say that this heat isn't making it any easier. Anthony West - 6th: Hopefully it won't be this hot tomorrow because a whole race like this could be very difficult. At the last few rounds, I've struggled to find the right set up, but here I’m happy with what we've done so I think it could be a good race. I thought the other guys would go quicker in the last few minutes because I got my qualifying in early but most of them didn't so I'm still second row. It's a perfect place to start and I'm feeling really happy. Colin Edwards - 7th: We've made some really important steps forward today with regards to the new tyres, how we use them and also to our base setting. We've rearranged the bike a bit and things were a lot better today. This afternoon was really difficult at the start, I was riding as hard as I could but I was two seconds off the pace! Then we put a different tyre in - the one I will use in the race - and I was riding the same but was suddenly a lot faster. This is a very sensitive track when it comes down to tyres and setting and you really have to find the key. With my first qualifying tyre I put in a pretty uneventful lap and with the second I was looking faster but I caught up to some other riders and, although they didn't slow me down, I slightly lost the edge of my concentration and that cost me a little bit of time. Thanks a lot to my guys, they've been working as hard in the box as I have out on track and they've done a great job today. Loris Capirossi - 8th: I have to give credit to my team - they have been very reactive this weekend and even if we are struggling again, as usual with the power delivery which doesn't seem to suit my riding style, we've made a few small steps forward. We've tried a lot of small changes and finally we found a race pace with which I am satisfied. Of course, my rhythm isn't the fastest but it's not so bad, around the low 48s. I think it is the rhythm for a reasonable race tomorrow. Casey Stoner - 9th: Today we couldn't get a good feeling with the bike, no matter what we did. I was frustrated because I think we could have improved my time with my second qualifying run but the change we'd made to the setting made braking difficult, so when I came into the last chicane the bike wouldn't go back a gear, so I destroyed the last corner and lost more than half a second. The tyres weren't so bad and to be honest the setting we had this morning was quite good, but as soon as we started the afternoon session that setting didn't seem to work, so we struggled to find a solution. We know we have to improve a little bit more and I think we will try another direction during warm-up. If we can improve a bit in the morning, starting from the third row shouldn't be a big problem. Normally we get goods start and with a few passes we can get to the front. Marco Melandri - 10th: I've got a decent race pace but unfortunately tomorrow we'll be starting from a little way back. The bike was skipping around on a qualifying tyre and I couldn't get the best out of the bike. It's a real shame because it's really important to start near the front at this circuit. I can't say I'm happy but we'll keep trying. Tomorrow we'll try to make the most out of the warm-up and find something that can improve the bike and after that it's a case of getting a good start. I like the track but it's going to be a tough race for us tomorrow. John Hopkins - 11th: The weekend has been going pretty well for us and the free practices were all good. We’ve worked hard with Bridgestone to get the best possible set-up that we can for tomorrow. This afternoon we ran into a couple of problems with the qualifying tyres so we had to do the best we could. We were comfortable on the race tyres, but it was so warm I tried to conserve a bit of energy for the qualifiers at the end of the practice. On my fastest lap I made a mistake on the last turn that cost a couple of tenths, if that hadn’t have happened I’m sure we’d have been a couple of rows higher up the grid. It’s no different than the last couple of races though, I’ve got to go out and get a good start and not let anyone get away, because I know I can run with the pace of anybody! Shinya Nakano - 12th: It’s been tough today as the lap time around here has improved a lot! On the qualifying tyre I was making a good lap time in T1 and T2 sectors, but in T3 and the downhill T4 sector we’ve been having problems with braking stability. This makes it hard to enter the corner at high-speed and affects your overall lap-time. Tomorrow we will change some settings to the front of the bike to improve our braking performance. We need to make a good start as at Motegi it’s very hard to pass around here. Kousuke Akiyoshi - 13th: My lap times have improved over the day and I am sure I can run in the top-10 tomorrow. I am really enjoying the weekend although I would have liked to have been higher up the grid. I have not tested many qualifiers on the 800 and was not sure how fast I could go - maybe I could have gone quicker! Carlos Checa - 14th: I’m waiting for the cooler weather, not so much for me, but to improve the potential of our tyre and chassis set-up, usually it is not so hot for the Motegi race. My qualifying tyre runs were not so good, some chatter, like in Estoril returned on the very soft tyres. For the race we have softened the rear suspension and continue to work to maximise tyre endurance although we do not have the pace to run right at the front. I am aiming for a more consistent race than Estoril and finish in the top ten. Alex Barros - 15th; Even though my position for tomorrow says otherwise, we have done some important work with the general set-up of the bike and with the tires, and I was able to lap with a constant rhythm of 48.5, a time which will allow me to gain positions depending on the weather conditions at the time of the race and at the start.  In the Qualifying session, we mounted a tire that was harder to give me more confidence, but the track temperature was very high so it didn’t benefit me at all.  Tomorrow I hope to have a good start, and if the weather is cooler I’m confident to make a good race. Chris Vermeulen - 17th: The whole weekend hasn’t been very good so far. We’ve made a lot of progress on race tyres today and it felt a lot more consistent and at one point I was inside the top-10 and the Bridgestone tyres were working really well. Unfortunately on the qualifiers I couldn’t get anymore grip than I did on the race tyres so it wasn’t easy to go any quicker, and that is something we’re going to have to work on. It sucks starting from so far back, but I can’t change that now, I just have to go out there and do the best I can and try to get as many points as possible. Akira Yanagawa - 19th: I'm still unable to fulfil the potential of this bike the way we've seen Randy and Anthony doing today because I haven't yet managed to alter my riding style to suit it. For example, I like the front suspension to be set harder but this bike doesn't like that set up so, as I said yesterday, we need to compromise! For the race, we've chosen a softer front and a medium rear and I used two qualifying tyres, which made me almost a second faster, but I need to open the throttle some more. I'm used to this weather but I'm not used to this bike! But I will do my best, of course. Shinichi Ito - 20th: I couldn’t get to a good point with the general set-up, and the transmission combination wasn’t accurate, so tomorrow we will try to get more out of my Ducati GP7.  During the warm-up, we will apply various modifications with the objective of making a better set-up for the race.  If it rains tomorrow for the race, I will hope for a good start and intend to get a good result.  I’m pretty good in the wet, but we know the risks that come with wet asphalt and those variables can change the results. Kurtis Roberts - 21st: The nature of the track's killing us, because it's all these places where the bike's got to accelerate. Even the not stop-and-go stuff, it's still low in the power-band, unless it's revving it's guts out. It's got to have a torque curve and we don't have one compared to everyone else's. We knew how the session was going to go before the session started. It's just getting past the point of frustration, but we're here because it's not like you can sit here and say they're working on it, they're working on it, they're working on it. For us, this is completely not against any part of the team, because we're all working our butts off.

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