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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2007-03-25  MotoGP Interview: Rider claims after Jerez race
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Another exciting MotoGP race is now behind us, with things in order that many of MotoGP fans expected - Rossi in charge, Pedrosa fighting for victories. However, many people came out of today's race disapointed, specially few of riders aiming on the top and being unable to reach it. Read rider claims in post-race interview. Valentino Rossi, race winner After the situation at this race last year, this is much, much better! Our first priority today was to get points and I knew that to win I would have to ride at the maximum, but today my Yamaha really flew and I was able to do a great race. It feels like a long time since I last won and this is a great emotion and a very special victory for me, especially in Jerez in front of this great crowd. Qatar was good but to taste victory again is a wonderful feeling. We had some problems on Friday and again yesterday and then after this morning's warm-up we made some more small modifications; I have to thank my team, from Jeremy Burgess to all my mechanics and engineers. They did a fantastic job for me this weekend and they all deserve this win. My tyre worked very well today and Michelin have done a good job too in difficult conditions, so thank you to them. I got a great start, didn't make any mistakes and had a good battle with Pedrosa, who we knew would be the danger today. I'm really happy for Colin too and to have both Yamahas on the podium shows that we're in good shape for what's going to be a long season. Now we have two race tracks which might be difficult for us so it's very important to leave here leading the championship. Dani Pedrosa, 2nd I’m very happy to be on the podium for the second race in a row and we’ve had a good weekend here at Jerez since first practice on Friday. At the beginning of the race I was trying really hard not to lose too much ground to Valentino. From the middle of the race to the end I was a little bit slower than him so I just tried to keep my focus and not make any mistakes. I feel a little bit sorry for the fans here because I really wanted to win for them. I think they enjoyed the racing today and this crowd supports everybody, not just the Spanish riders. The result is very good for the team because they have been working hard for me, so a big thanks to them. Colin Edwards, 3rd On Friday morning you wouldn't have thought we would end up on the podium, but here we are and it was a good race for me. I've got to say an enormous thank you to all my guys because they worked non-stop all weekend and came up with some pretty good solutions to the problems we had. Michelin also had something up their sleeve for us and seemed to know what would work and they were proved right - they've done a good job for us this weekend. I got a good start and my best move was getting past Checa so quickly; I knew I had to find some clear air and try to hang onto the back of Valentino and Pedrosa. I made a couple of small mistakes and they were able to pull away from me a bit which was a pity, but my bike was working well so I was able to keep a pretty good pace throughout. Towards the end I could see Elias had appeared behind me and I didn't like the idea of him getting spurred on by his home fans and trying to snatch a podium, so I really had to keep hammering away! The last few laps were a little hairy at times as I started to slide but anyway we managed to make it and it feels great to be up here on the podium again. Toni Elias, 4th I’m really happy. With respect to the race in Qatar we have grown a lot and together with the team we’ve done a great job. I didn’t get a good start and in the beginning it was hard to get the tyres up to temperature. I just tried to maintain a constant pace and make up as many positions as possible. The pace of the front guys was incredible but when the others started to have problems I was able to maintain my pace and get past Stoner, Checa, Melandri and Hayden. I’m the first Bridgestone rider home so it’s a good result. We’ve worked well together and we still have some room for improvement. Casey Stoner, 5th It wouldn't have been too tough if we'd got away with them at the start but we just didn't seem to have it there at the beginning of the race and then I got shuffled back a fair way by a few dodgy pass manoeuvres. Once we'd got our rhythm and finally got past Marco (Melandri) and Carlos (Checa) then we were free to put in some good lap times and push further forward. There were a few stupid manoeuvres out there which lost us a few seconds. The bike and the tyres were okay, so without that dodgy passes we would've been fighting for the podium at the end of the race but that's the way it goes, that's the way the race panned out. Now I'm going back to Australia for these next two weeks to train as hard as I can and get myself set for the rest of the season. Carlos Checa, 6th The lower track temperatures today did not give me the same feeling with the rear tyre as I had in practice, but even so it feels good to finish my home race and score some points. I made a good start but I was not decisive enough on the first lap and lost some positions – that cost me valuable time. I enjoyed the fight with Casey and Toni, this was the best part of the race, but when they pushed with five laps to go I did have the tyre grip to respond. Nicky Hayden, 7th I got a good start and the first few laps were decent. I was pushing really hard though I didn’t really have the set-up to run at that pace. It felt good to be up front and see what those boys were doing but I was taking a few chances and I probably used up my tyres too much in the first few laps trying to work my way forward. It’s a little frustrating because at the last race in Qatar we got faster as the race went on yet here it was the opposite. Marco Melandri, 8th It’s a disappointing result at a circuit where I should have done much better. This morning we were really quick in the warm-up and I was confident but unfortunately in the race I suffered with the same problem as in Qatar – to pass people I need to brake in a really aggressive way and that takes too much out of the front tyre. Tomorrow we have a day of tests to try a few different solutions and we’ll work particularly on the forks ahead of the race in Turkey, a circuit that holds a lot of good memories for me. Chris Vermeulen, 9th I knew it was going to be a tough race having to start from 14th and it’s difficult to pass around here. At the beginning there were so many guys going so fast and I got involved in a few tussles with people like Capirossi, Barros and Kenny Jr, and they know a thing or two about racing! I found it quite hard to come through the field but I managed to get past quite a few and on the last lap I had a bit of a battle with Barros to keep ninth. It’s an improvement on where we started, to finish in the top 10, but we still have a long way to go. The main thing is that we need to qualify and start better to make sure we finish better! Shinya Nakano, 10th Another difficult race. I made a good start, but didn’t push so hard from the beginning, so I lost a few places. When I started to get a better feeling from the bike, I tried to push harder again but we were having some chatter problems from the front. I tried to follow other riders and hung in there and on the final lap overtook Barros for 10th. Towards the end our rhythm wasn’t so bad, but now I’m looking for more entry speed in the corner. Alex Barros – 11th This race has not really been as I expected but I did tried till the end to obtain the best possible result! The start wasn’t perfect, but my first ten laps were quite good, the constant pace I had permitted me to move up four positions, from thirteenth to the ninth position. After this, I had some difficulties with the front tire and the race became harder for me; my riding style leads me to push a lot on the front tire and when its performances are lower I suffer a lot. Nevertheless, it was a good race, battling myself with  Vermeulen and Nakano until the end, then when Chris and I touched, I found it difficult to recover immediately and Shinya overtook me right on the finishing line. I’m very sorry about this because I’m sure I could be on the first six positions if I would not have problems with the front tire. Loris Capirossi, 12th This morning we thought we had found a better set-up but the race didn't go well. At the start something happened with the engine, I got a bad start and after... well, I didn't ride so well. We worked on engine mapping this morning but maybe we didn't get it right because I didn't have great acceleration and that made things worse. I'm not happy, I had a bad race. Yes, I finished, but this is not the way I like to race. During the next few weeks we will work on a few things to make sure we start Turkey in better shape. The track conditions weren't bad today, the tyres worked well, but maybe my riding style doesn't perfectly suit the engine character. I'm a bit aggressive with the gas and maybe this is the problem. When we use the electronics to make the power more sweet the bike loses it competitiveness. It's a thing I have to work on - trying to adapt my style. Randy De Puniet, 13th I kept the position and at the beginning I was faster than other riders, but here it is really difficult to pass. I stayed behind, as I didn’t want to make any mistake. Rear tyre performance dropped down, but I managed to stay with the group until ten laps to the end, when I made a mistake and lost some time. I pushed and caught the group again. But then, four laps to the end, I don’t know what happened but I saw Roberts' bike stop and I lost about a second avoiding him, which allowed Capirossi to catch me. His bike is more powerful and I couldn’t prevent him from passing me on the back straight. The positive is that the bike’s performance improved a little, but we now need to find solutions to all the issues we had this weekend. Kenny Roberts, 16th I don’t know exactly what went wrong, but something happened – either the chain, or the transmission. It happened suddenly, and I went sideways for about half-a-second in third gear. I was going to pull in, but I was able to make the last few laps. Up until then, I felt I had a little bit better pace than the guys in front of me, that I was saving for the last couple of laps. But I don’t think that matters now. Olivier Jacque, 18th It’s been a hard weekend; even though I was not expecting much from this race, it has been a bit frustrating. I did a good start, but had absolutely no grip after only three laps, which meant I was spinning the rear tyre at every single corner. I was losing a lot of ground exiting the corners and it got worse lap by lap. I made some mistakes as well, trying to catch up on braking, but it was just impossible. Slide control was really good, and I could have had fun, but it was not efficient in terms of lap time. At the end, the tyres were ruined but I managed to finish. We don’t know what has gone wrong this weekend but, fortunately, we have two testing days to sort it out. John Hopkins, 19th I am disappointed to say the least - the worst thing is that we have lost valuable championship points. My race pace and the tyres felt good and I was able to put in a few passes in the beginning. I was in a group that was making a bit of a gap, but then I got held up by Nicky. I wanted to get past him, but I was having a hard time doing it. It looked like I was following him, but that wasn’t what I wanted. When I got past him I started to chase down the front three, but the wind then picked up and I got blown sideways by a big gust and the pace I was going, and the lean angle I had, I just lost the front! As I say I’m disappointed, but this is a long season and we won’t let this faze us. We’ll take the positives from here and come back even stronger in Turkey! Alex Hofmann – excluded: There are no words to describe this day! I really wanted to have a good race today, I was determined and concentrated but in the end I could not make more than two laps! Immediately after the start, I realized I could not accelerate because of a technical problem, so I returned to the pit box to change my bike. I’m really unhappy because my race pace during practices was constant. Even today, I could  run my last lap in 1.41,9”. If I could continued my race, I think I could move up till the tenth or eleventh position. I’ don’t know what I can say, I want to forget this day and focus on the next race in Istanbul.

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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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YZR-M1 Valentino Rossi 2008

Diecast model of Valentino Rossi 2008 Yamaha YZR-M1 in scale 1:12 from Minichamps. Get this fantastic bike Rossi rode to 2008 MotoGP title.
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