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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Valentino Rossi t-shirt

Yellow Valentino Rossi t-shirt, featuring sun and moon symbols on sleeves. Made of 100% cotton, VR-46 logo on the chest.
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2007-05-07  MotoGP: Rider claims after Shanghai
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Antoher brilliant performance from Casey Stoner increased his championship lead, while Valentino Rossi was this time right behind, without particular tyre problems. Great podium finish came from John Hopkins, showing progress made in Suzuki. Read rider claims after the race. Casey Stoner, race winner If last year someone had told me that at this point of the season I would have won three races I would have laughed! Anyway, today was another perfect day. I really want to say thank you to Ducati, to Vittoriano Guareschi of the test team, and to Bridgestone and to all the sponsors who have given me this opportunity. The pace of the race was incredibly fast and we were really quick on the straights. Again we were able to take this advantage and I could just stay at the front with the lap times we were doing. The only difficult part of the track for me this weekend was the turn before the back straight where I couldn't turn so well but we worked a lot on this until we found better exit speed. During the race I concentrated on the lap times which weren't that easy but I could do them okay. During the closing stages, when I had less fuel load, the tyres started working even better. I'm really happy with Bridgestone - we expected higher temperatures for the race and that's what happened, which is why we ran a harder rear and we were really safe with it. I knew Valentino was behind so I just concentrated and didn't make many mistakes. I was expecting a big fight during the last two laps but after he made his mistake I was able to control the race. It was another fantastic race, like Qatar and Turkey, but we aren't changing our way of thinking. We are working hard, taking it race by race and doing our best every time. Valentino Rossi, 2nd I enjoyed today a lot, it was a great race, a really exciting battle and my Yamaha was fantastic to the end. We knew that this track would be difficult for us so to be able to fight with Stoner at 100% for the entire race was a great feeling. Of course it's not a win, but I think second place is a very good result for us here. I didn't want to give up and just ride for second, I wanted to try to pass him and I made some good overtaking manoeuvres but wasn't able to stay in front down the straight. Then I made a mistake when I hit a bump when braking, had to release the brake and ran off track. It was a pity, but when you're riding on the limit lap after lap then things like this can happen; that's racing! Anyway I knew I couldn't give up, I had a nice battle with John and then was able to take second. I think these twenty points are really important and we're still second in the championship. I'm really more sad for what happened in Turkey because if we hadn't had the problem there then I might have been level with Stoner in the championship now. But the season is long and now we have several races in Europe at some of my favourite tracks and I think we're in good shape for them! John Hopkins, 3rd I am so happy with the way the race went and I want to dedicate my first podium to my Dad! Without doubt he was watching me and he certainly helped get me through to the finish - there will be more of these to come! I want to also give a big thanks to everyone who has supported me and especially my family. I also owe a huge thank-you to my crew who have been right behind me all the time. I really want to congratulate Bridgestone for the great tyres and Suzuki for the huge steps forward with the bike that is enabling me to run at the front now. As far as the race went, I got a good start and then got passed by Marco and Dani; I started to get a bit frustrated because Casey and Valentino were pulling away. I made a couple of aggressive manoeuvres on both Dani and Marco to get round them and started to chase down the front two. From there on it was all about trying to hang on to them, they were running a tremendous pace and I just couldn’t get past. In the end I made sure I brought the bike home in third. I was praying nothing would go wrong in the last two laps – and it didn’t so I guess my Dad was looking down on me! Now I can’t wait for Le Mans – I’m looking into backing this up with another podium! Dani Pedrosa, 4th Well, we’ll take the points for fourth place because these are useful for the Championship, even though it would have been nice to be on the podium today. My start was quite good and I could ride with the leaders for the first few laps. However the riders in front were very fast today and in the end the pace was just too quick for us. For the middle part of the race I had a battle with Melandri and when I was able to get past him they had made a gap. Still, I don’t think I could have stayed with them today. Marco Melandri, 5th I’m pleased because I gave my best, but I can’t deny that I’m aiming for better results than this. I got a good start and felt comfortable with the bike, it felt good at the start of the race. I was able to move up to second place but after a few laps I started to suffer a little with chatter and it didn’t help. We have a lot of hard work still to do because at the moment we’re behind. Loris Capirossi, 6th We had a difficult Saturday and the crash in qualifying was simply a shame because we had to start so far back on the grid. I was in the middle of the first lap accident but I was able to escape getting involved. Anyway, I had problems when braking all through the race, so I couldn't attack. I could only try to defend my position and finish at the front of my group. I got ten points, which isn't much but they are something. I'm eighth on points while Casey and Valentino are way in front but I'm not so far back from third position, so I'll just keep my head down and try to improve my feeling with this bike which is obviously a winning machine. Also, the tyres were very good today, so we just have to keep working hard. Chris Vermeulen, 7th I was a bit injured from yesterday’s crash, but the worst part today was that I had to start back on the fifth row. I got a good start and made up some places through the first two turns and the bike and tyres felt really good - I could do consistently fast times. It was a bit of a shame that I was back there as I did get held up a bit by some slower riders. I got up to seventh and had a great battle with Loris. Every time I passed him he’d then go past me on the straights – we just didn’t have the speed to match his bike. Seventh place from 15th on the grid is not a bad performance and we can look forward to Le Mans. I also want to congratulate John on his first podium in MotoGP, I know what it means to him and I’m sure there will be plenty more of those for Rizla Suzuki! Randy De Puniet, 8th The target was to finish eighth and I did but, after a positive weekend and this morning’s warm up, I was expecting to finish in a better position. I am satisfied with the race, although I have to say that maybe I was too cautious. I didn’t want to risk making any mistakes, which could have ruined my chances. I got a good start and kept my position on the leading group for about six laps but, from then on, I couldn’t keep up their rhythm. I didn’t have any slipstream and that made me lose about three tenths of a second per lap. Riding on the safe side, Capirossi and Vermeulen were able to catch and pass me. I tried to give it back to Vermeulen at the last corner, and I almost did, but he was on a better line and I couldn’t manage it. Anyway, my Kawasaki and the Bridgestone tyres worked perfectly today and I am really satisfied about the work we have done here over the weekend. I am sure that if we continue this way, better results will come soon. And it would be great to get them at the next race in Le Mans: my home race. Alex Hofmann, 9th I have a good race and for this reason I’m happy. Every weekend we improve a lot and I get more confident with my Desmosedici; I hope can will arrive very important result also for me! Today unfortunately, the race characterised  by the deep traffic that was on track at the first lap. This meant I lost some positions and even when I tried to recover, I knew I didn?t have the possibility to make a strong attack. Anyway, I want to thanks to my team for their good work. Carlos Checa, 10th I’m satisfied with this result because I knew this would be a tough race as we had a top speed disadvantage on the straight and it is difficult to fight in this condition. I rode as fast as possible and after I passed Edwards I was able to match the pace of Capirossi and de Puniet ahead of me. In the first corner I had to stop and run wide to avoid hitting Hofmann, it was better to do that than crash and then I just tried to make up time. Now I’m looking ahead to the Le Mans race. Colin Edwards, 11th I don't have much positive stuff to say about today's race! I had hoped that I would be able to try for a podium but right from the start I didn't have any rear grip and it was all I could do to keep it upright throughout the race. I genuinely believe that our bike is the best on the grid and I've never felt happier with it, but unfortunately the package as a whole isn't working for me at the moment and we need to understand why. I had a slightly different tyre to Valentino but he really showed his class again today. I just want to forget about this race and look forward to Le Mans, where I've always gone well. Nicky Hayden, 12th This morning I was fifth fastest in the warm-up and I was definitely looking to get my best result of the year, so it’s a pity about that first corner incident. I got a decent start and going round the inside I felt pretty good and was in a decent position. Then somebody just drilled me from behind and I was lucky to stay on the bike. I was out of the saddle, then my feet were dragging on the ground and I was pretty much cowboying it through the dirt and trying not come back on the track in the middle of the bunch. By the time I was pointing the right way everybody was gone. Sylvain Guintoli, 13th I'm very happy with the race and the weekend. It was a good boost for me to be so close to Nicky for so long after he was caught up in that first lap incident and I had a lot of fun racing with him. Unfortunately I made a little mistake towards the end of the race that allowed the gap to open up. Anyway, I am satisfied as the weekend didn't start very well as we had a lot more trouble than Jerez and Turkey to get the right tyre but we worked hard and managed to find a good tyre for the race. At the end of the day it is my best result in MotoGP, I was able to follow Rossi for a couple of laps during practice learning a few things and I managed to stay with the world champion for half the race so this has given me a good boost of confidence for my home Grand Prix in Le Mans in two weeks time. I am really looking forward to that and after testing with Dunlop and the Yamaha Tech 3 Team last year feel that the tyres should work well there and it a track I particularly like so hopefully I can score some more good points in front of my home crowd. Alex Barros, 14th I haven’t a lot to say; I ran my race alone. I had a good start, but immediately I found myself fcaught up in Elias’s crash and that made me go out from the race track, and my bike switched off too. In that moment I lost too much time and it was impossible to reach again the group, but I tried to finish my race doing my best, because I wanted to get at least some points. I’m very sorry for this weekend because my Team made really a perfect job, the bike was so good and I had the right feeling with it. If everything would have gone in a different way, I’m sure I could have been classified in the first positions, because my race pace was very good. In the end I know that during the race, these kind of problems can happen. Kenny Roberts, 15th It seems that everybody else has made improvements, because you hear about everybody talking about all the improvements they made for here. From here, I’m going to go to Le Mans in my same mentality and if we have a good weekend, we do. I can only go this hard, because the front tyre’s going to fold or the back tyre’s going to spin out and I’ll crash. So the physical part, like I used to do on a 500, is not there. It’s like a go-kart almost, but at the moment I’m just not setting my go-kart up right, I guess. Toni Elias, DNF I’m disappointed not to finish the race. In the warm-up the bike had improved a lot compared to yesterday. We found a much better solution for the tyres and I think it could have been a nice race for me. Unfortunately on the first lap I was behind Hayden when he was closing his line towards the kerb and I had no choice but to collide with his rear wheel and crash. These things happen in racing – especially when everybody is so close, but I’m disappointed to miss out on some important points. This race is behind us now and I only want to think about Le Mans. Shinya Nakano, DNF Firstly I would like to say I’m happy that neither Makoto nor myself is injured. I’ve banged my right hand in the crash, but it will be OK in a couple of days. Makoto and I are fine, it’s a racing accident and crashes happen. It’s a shame because our race set-up was the best of the weekend. I made a good start and was riding in 10th position but couldn’t follow the top guys. Then at the end of the back straight Tamada-san missed his braking point and clipped my rear tyre. I’m so sorry for the team that the crash happened and we couldn’t get a result. Makoto Tamada, DNF It was a shame my race only lasted three laps as I had a very good feeling with the bike and the tyres. I felt that this was going to be the best race of the year for me so far I am very disappointed that I crashed as we had good speed but I am also sorry for Shinya. I wasn't expecting to be going to pass him then but he was going a lot slower than I thought. I tried to avoid him by diving for the inside to take the corner but unfortunately we hit and we both went down and my bike was too badly damaged to continue The tyres are also getting better so I am feeling better on the bike everytime I ride it. Hopefully we can continue the progress at the next race and I can get a good result for myself and the team.

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