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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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2007-08-19 Rider claims after Brno race
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 Army of 141,632 fans had chance to see 10th round of the MotoGP championship today in Brno, expecting much more excitement that we saw today. Stoner dominated race from word go to the flag, spoiling fun for the fans, but much more for his rivals. Read rider thoughts after the race.
Casey Stoner - winner:
The whole weekend has gone pretty well for us, we struggled a little bit on Friday trying to get the set-up but by the time qualifying came around everything was working really well. The bike, the team and the tyres have been performing faultlessly at the past few races and it's just nice to top things up with another win. It was a great race, we completed race distance on the tyres this morning so we knew they'd last fine. We got an awesome start, I started off with six tenths on John, then the gap went up to a second, up to 1.2 seconds, then back down to one second, then up a little bit, down a little bit. I felt like I was close enough to the limit and he was still there and chasing me down, I was surprised and a little worried he could catch me but we just kept our pace until eight laps to go, then we started to pull a small advantage. I just had to keep up my concentration level to try and pull that advantage. I'm still going out there trying to win races, that's what we're here for, we're all out there fighting for every point. We knew we had a better package than everybody else today, so I just had to push through. That's the way I look at it - if you concentrate on it race by race it makes things a little easier. We've got a few things and a lot of tyres to test here tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the tests because although we've got a really good package it'll be great if we can improve it. Also these tests will help the machine for next year when hopefully we can come out a bit stronger.
John Hopkins - 2nd:
I can say that I am really, really happy with today’s result and the whole weekend in general. I got off the line well and then passed Dani and Nicky in quick succession to get up to second. My goal had been to be in second by turn three because I knew Casey would be in first and I didn’t want him to get away. I tried to stay with him, but he had an unbelievable pace and I was pushing the front and the rear to the limit – which with the Bridgestones is pretty high! I tried hard to catch him but after a while I decided to pull it in a bit and make sure I got that second place. The bike and the tyres worked great today and a big thanks to my team for a fantastic job and to Bridgestone for such awesome tyres. Congratulations to Chris on a great ride today, we’re tied on points now, so that added competition is good for the whole team for the rest of the season. I am sure everyone at Rizla Suzuki is happy with this result and I’m more happy for them as they all deserve it and it’s good for me to give these podiums back to Suzuki after all they have done for me.
I’d like to finally wish Taro Sekiguchi all the best after his horrendous crash in the 250 race earlier today. I and all the team hope he is ok and makes a quick recovery and return to racing.
Nicky Hayden - 3rd:
Well I’m pretty happy with the podium and I feel like we’ve done a decent job this weekend. Yesterday afternoon we made quite a big change with the front forks and I liked the results a lot. When I got into third position on lap two of the race I was thinking ‘now you’ve got to get on his back wheel’ and for about three corners it was looking pretty good. But then I got onto the straight, looked up and realised that really I was just dreaming. So I just kept my rhythm and I really feel like I got the best out of the bike, myself and the tyres today – I don’t feel like I left much on the table. So thanks to my team because those guys did a good job. Hopefully we can keep this form going and get a little bit stronger from now on. I’d also like to dedicate this podium to Cedric Laprael, the parts guy in the Repsol Honda Team, who isn’t here this weekend because he had a parachuting accident during the summer break. Get well Cedric. The team’s going to stay for a couple of days testing with some new parts from Honda and a lot of Michelin tyres so we can to try and bridge the gap to these front guys.
Dani Pedrosa - 4th:
Fourth position is the maximum we could achieve today and at least I’ve closed the gap a little to second in the championship which is somewhat positive. Still, I’m frustrated after the race today because I didn’t feel like we could use all the potential of our package. For the first few laps I couldn’t get enough heat into the rear tyre which meant I wasn’t able to maintain my position and I was passed by a few riders. Then after four or five laps I could feel more heat in the tyre but by this time the leaders had gone, and Nicky too. I pushed as hard as I could for the whole race but the lap times just weren’t there and my pace was slowing steadily. I’m frustrated because we haven’t made the improvements in the package I was hoping for. We must work hard during the test over the next two days. Obviously, to fight for the title is very difficult, but I'm not going to give up this season. We have to try to keep the third place in the championship and at the same time try to go forward into second.
Chris Vermeulen - 5th:
I had a good enough start, but got a bit closed in on the first turn and went back a place. Everyone was going so quick that it was hard to get anywhere early on. Colin got in front of me and then he crashed and very nearly took me with him, so I lost a bit of time from that. I then got up to de Puniet and got past him. Loris was very difficult to get by, because that Ducati is so fast on the straights, but I did. I then just kept my head down and also managed to get up to and pass Valentino a couple of laps later. It’s good points for the championship and I’m still in fourth and we’ll look for another podium next time out. Well done to John on his second place today, he has deserved that for all the hard work he has put in recently and after what happened to him in America!
Loris Capirossi - 6th:
It's a shame because today was a wasted opportunity. I made a mistake when I chose my tyre allocation on Thursday. I decided to trust one type of construction that worked very well last year, especially getting into the corners. But unfortunately it wasn't competitive from the early stages of today's race. I used a harder compound and it didn't work so well. I was slow going into the corners and I took a couple of big risks in the last long corner. Valentino overtook me on one of those occasions, the front tucked and I went wide. After that I was able to pass him again but I couldn't catch the front group. It's a real shame because I think I could have stayed with Nicky [Hayden, third-place finisher]. We will do better in the next race at Misano, it's another home GP and I look forward to racing there.
Valentino Rossi - 7th:
We expected a difficult race today because we knew our potential here wasn't very high after the last two days. However it was even worse than we expected! I tried to keep my rhythm going but, after only seven or eight laps, the tyre started to slide a lot on the right side and from then on I wasn't able to open the throttle.
Throughout the weekend we have done everything to try to find more traction. We have changed the setting a lot to try to find a way to make the tyre work, but unfortunately during the race we had no grip. Also, with the setting we had to use, we had to sacrifice some of our corner speed and this also slowed us down. It was very difficult today. I was able to do 1.59s to start with but after a few laps the tyre made a big step down and then I just had to wait for the end of the race.
I had a hard time with Capirossi at the start; in some parts I was faster than him but I couldn't overtake him because he was pulling away from me on the straights. Eventually I got past him but he stayed with me and I couldn't pull clear. I pushed as hard as I could; at that time I wasn't too fast but not too slow either, but after that my tyre was finished and then Vermeulen came, then Loris again...I am sad because I wasn't even able to try to fight with them today. Towards the end I had to push at the limit to stay in front of de Puniet and luckily I managed, but we were a very long way from a good performance. I tried to change my style, to ride in a different way to help the situation, but it was no good.
We have a test now but in reality our situation is quite bad and we have a few different problems to deal with. We will try to make the best of the next two days of work and to try to find something different for the next few races. We have to wait and see what we find, but for sure it's going to be very difficult. This is a very hard moment that we're in. We have six races to go and we just have to work as hard as we can to try to find a way to make some good results.
Randy de Puniet - 8th:
My start was much stronger than in the past but not qualifying on the first row yesterday, as I'd hoped, was a bit of a handicap. We tried a harder race tyre yesterday, and it didn't feel right, but I still had some grip problems with the one I used today, and some spinning, which made it a bit too risky to try to pass. Still, I tried to give the maximum, and waited for Rossi to make a mistake - which, characteristically he didn't - but I had a good fight and finished 8th, which isn't a bad result. I've had a good weekend, overall, and I'm looking forward to our two day test tomorrow, when I think we can improve things a little bit, ready for the next race.
Alex Barros - 9th:
I’m not satisfied with my result, as I had hoped for something more at this race. I made a solid start, but my grid position really hampered me. At the beginning of the race, I was stuck with a lot of riders in front of me so I wasn’t able to get into the right rhythm. As a result, the tires didn't reach the optimum temperature and I wasted a lot of time before they started to work at the right level. After a couple of laps, I started going fast, but the lead group was already too far to reach. I’m very unhappy with this race result, but I'm optimistic about the future, and about obtaining a good result in Misano.
Carlos Checa - 10th:
It seems a little strange to say it but I’m satisfied with tenth. The team has done a lot of hard work this weekend and I think we achieved as much as possible. Now we have a two day test. I was fighting with Guintoli and Elias and this was much more fun than riding alone – there was a lot of overtaking. On the engine side we are now in a good situation, but we still need to optimize chassis and tyres.
Toni Elias - 11th:
I was very tired at the finish of the race, it was much tougher than I expected, all the direction changes on this track didn’t help. For me it was very important to come back in time to race at Brno and I made it. Considering my condition 11th place is not so bad. The bike was very good but in my condition I could not push as hard as I needed to in order to test the latest modifications to the bike.
Anthony West - 12th:
I've been struggling a bit the whole weekend, to be honest, and that was a really difficult race for me. My start was positive, then it took me a few laps to get in to a rhythm, and I began to feel good about half way through: really strong. I felt I was faster than the other guys in some sections but was losing out in others, with some traction problems and the tyre spinning up, which made it really difficult to fight. For me this race was really hard and there are things we need to work on, both with the bike and with myself. I'm glad we've got some testing here tomorrow and I'm definitely looking forward to it: it's what I really need at the moment. Qualifying was so difficult for me: I went quicker on my race tyres than I did on qualifiers, so I've still got a lot to learn. But I'm also really looking forward to the next race. I like Misano and I know it so that should be an advantage.
Shinya Nakano - 14th:
All weekend we’ve had front-end chattering issues. We tried to fix this problem in warm-up this morning by trying a harder front tyre and we had a little less chattering but after few laps the problem returned and this meant that in the race we couldn’t push hard. It’s clear to us that the engine is smoother and has more potential, but with this turning problem we cannot use this potential. Tomorrow is a very important test for us to solve the problem of chatter and therefore find better turning ability and corner speed for the last part of the season when we really need to be getting improved results.
Kurtis Roberts - 15th:
For some reason the thing bogged down off the line. I'd got a good jump, and it just died. That made life difficult, because instead of being able to pass (Makoto) Tamada and (Ivan) Silva in one lap and be done with them, it took a long time. Their bikes are so much faster right now than ours: I'd set 'em up and set 'em up, then block pass them, and they'd get me back on the drive out of the corner or up the hill. It just frustrates you. It took four or five laps when I should have been with Nakano up ahead. I struggled with tyres after that. I was catching Nakano, and I could tell he was having the same issues I was. Then it started chattering and sliding much worse. We just did all we could do to get 15th. We can only go round the corners so fast. We are still missing out on acceleration and top speed. Hopefully, some engine upgrades will come along soon.
Ivan Silva - 16th:
First of all, I want to say that I didn't expect anything from this race, but at the same time I’m upset with my result. I had a good start, but in the beginning I had some difficulties riding because with a full fuel tank, the bike felt different and I wasn't conditioned for it. Unfortunately, I’m not used to riding such a powerful bike, and after eight laps, I starting getting some serious arm pump. I decided to back off and save all my energy for a late race charge to catch and overtake Tamada. Another positive from this race was that the Bridgestone tires did a very good job from the start to the finish without any deterioration. I want to say thanks to Pramac and the Team for letting me have this chance to ride.
Colin Edwards - DNF:
Even though my start wasn't so bad on paper - I made up one place - it didn't feel too good. We were trying a new starting system that's been working really well but, in the hustle and bustle on the grid, I released the clutch a bit early, dropped RPM and then had to re-group. Anyway, I was pushing pretty hard from then on and I had a couple of passing areas that I knew I was good at so I was working my way up to de Puniet to see what I could do. I came out of turn three, went into four and was watching him and before I knew it, I lost the front and was on the ground. It's been a long time since I've lost the front that fast, usually it just kind of gives way but I guess it wasn't completely up to temperature, it was only the second lap and it just went. I made a mistake and I'm really disappointed, now we've got some serious work to do during the test so we have a better weekend in Misano.
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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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