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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2007-07-23  Rider claims after Laguna Seca race
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We can't say that race at Laguna Seca brought too much excitement to us, but for sure after this race impressions are strong among riders - specially among those which did not perform well as expected. This is specially true for Valentino Rossi, who lost 12 more championship points in this race, mainly due to lack of grip from Michelin tyres, which was also obvious in case of other Michelin riders. Read rider thoughts after the race. Casey Stoner - Race winner: This would have to be my best racing weekend ever. We also had a great weekend at the Sachsenring last week, it just didn't work out in the race. Today everything was perfect, the tyres, the bike, everything was working great the whole weekend. We managed to be fast in every session and after all this hard work we did it in the race. We also broke the long run of no pole sitter winning a race - the last person to do it was on a Ducati and the next person to do it was on a Ducati. I'm absolutely stoked about this race. We went out in morning warm-up and we were able to do really low 22s and even high 21s with half race distance on the tyres, so we felt pretty confident. At the start of the race I dipped into the 22s, I wanted to see how fast everybody else could go. I was pulling away from Dani [Pedrosa] by about half second lap, then Chris [Vermeulen] got in front of him and started to chase me down. I thought he was obviously pushing a bit harder so I decided to up my pace and I was slowly but surely pulling a gap. Chris was very fast, but I feel like I had a little bit better rear tyre, we had selected a pretty hard rear which really started working towards the end, so I just continued to push throughout the race. I didn't think there was going to be a big group at the front, I knew we had the set-up and it was just a matter of everything going to plan for us with no bad luck and everything worked. Chris Vermeulen - 2nd: I am absolutely over the moon to be on the podium here at Laguna! Last year we had a lot of pace as well, but it didn’t quite work out in the race. Suzuki has overcome that and we have had a trouble free weekend. The Bridgestone tyres worked great and only myself and Casey had the pace to do the lap-times at the beginning. Unfortunately I couldn’t quite hang with him all race but I am very happy to be second and now let’s go forward and get a few more of these. Marco Melandri - 3rd: An amazing race for me. I couldn’t ride without an injection for the pain this morning, so a big thanks to the Clinica Mobile. I didn’t feel any pain when riding, I just kept my rhythm, and in the end I did feel a bit of pain in my ankle. I started quietly and after a few laps I started to feel comfortable, got my rhythm and passed some guys till I caught Valentino. The bike and the tyres were working really well, I had a good pace so I decided to try to overtake him and go for third position. Ten laps to go, I started to suffer more, especially in breaking, but I was so motivated that I succeeded to maintain a good pace. I'd like to thank Honda for the new parts that arrived in Germany, Fausto and the team for the great job that have done during all this part of the season. I'm happy to give Fausto and the team a great result. Valentino Rossi - 4th: Today was incredibly disappointing because, with the tyre situation like this, it was like our rivals were in a different race. My team and I worked very hard, especially after yesterday's crash, and we did the maximum we could to have our bike in the best possible condition. However without grip it was impossible to fight with the leaders. I rode the best race I could and I was very happy to pass Pedrosa, but I couldn't catch Melandri; we just didn't have the right rhythm or grip today. I'm very sad for last weekend in Sachsenring because there Michelin was strong and we missed a chance to make up some important points there. After today we can see just how important! It seems that tyres are the deciding factor for this season and this is a pity for the fans and for the show. We are not giving up; there are seven races left and we know that Michelin are going to work as hard as they possibly can in order to make the situation better for the second part of the season, but Stoner is very strong and we know it will be very hard. Anyway, we have some holidays now and we will be back in Brno to fight as hard as we can until the end. Dani Pedrosa - 5th: This was a very hard race for us and I’m not really satisfied with fifth after winning the race last week and qualifying second here. I made a good start and was leading on the first lap, but I was never able to push as hard as I wanted today. We had quite a few problems with the tyres and pretty much from the start I had a lot of chatter at the rear which was increasing through the race. As every rider came past me I was trying to stay with them, but I simply wasn’t able to – I would have crashed. So I just concentrated on staying on the bike because I couldn’t do more than that. It’s quite disappointing after the win in Germany and we have to make sure we improve the situation before the next race. Randy de Puniet - 6th: I'm very happy. It's not been easy here: setting the bike up and getting good, consistent lap times. But this morning, in warm up, we tried a new suspension setting and front tyre and things got better for the race. It was a good result, especially from 13th on the grid. I was pleased with my start and had a good first lap, didn't lose time behind Nakano and Edwards and rode my race behind some fast riders. I saw on my pit board that Anthony was behind me so for Kawasaki it's a very good result: it's perfect and I'm very happy. It's great to do a good race before the summer break. Anthony West - 7th: It's getting easier every time I ride but it was still quite a difficult race, especially going up and down on the hills. And it was pretty hot but I'm feeling good and felt strong throughout. I didn't even know what position I was in half the time. All I could see was the guys in front of me; I hardly looked at my pit board at all. I had to ask the crew what place I got when I came back in and I'm really happy with the result. The team have done a great job, they've worked really hard and it just shows how good the bike is. Alex Barros - 9th: It was an hard race for me, but I’m satisfied with my result. Even though I had made a good start, my position on the starting grid, was really penalyzing. Because of my hand condition, I made a strong effort to ride.  Because I had a deep desire to recover the points lost in Germany, I gave my very best to make up as many positions as possible. During the race I had some difficulties when braking, but then everything started working well and I was able to obtain a good result.  In the end, I enjoyed my race because eventually I had a great battle with Roger Lee Hayden that went right up until the very end, I ended up ahead, but I want to give him my congratulations, because he rode very well. Finally, I want to say Thanks to all the Clinica Mobile guys who helped me to be  able to ride in the best possible conditions. Roger Lee Hayden - 10th: It was a good race for me. I didn't have a great start because, when the lights went off, it took a few seconds for it to click, what I was supposed to do! I just tried to run a consistent race. It's a shame Barros got me at the last corner, but top ten is a good result and I feel like I've learned a lot. The Bridgestone tyres worked well, the bike was excellent and my whole team really did a good job and let me take things slowly, working at my own pace. I really enjoyed the bike and, even though it's been a very busy weekend, it's been an awesome experience and I feel very lucky to have had this opportunity. I wouldn't change it for anything and I want to say thanks to whole team for making it so easy for me.       Colin Edwards - 11th: I think it was pretty obvious today to everyone that we were struggling and why. We had a problem all weekend and we changed the bike in every possible way to try to work around it but unfortunately it proved impossible. We went round in circles but we couldn't change the underlying problem and the basic fact is that we had no grip. Of course I'm pretty disappointed that this happened at my home race, with all my family and friends here and it's a great pity we couldn't give the American fans more to cheer about today. My guys worked really hard all weekend, they all deserve their holidays now and then we'll all be fresh for a new start in Brno. Shinya Nakano - 12th: We started so well for this race. I could stay with the riders in front and we managed to get up to eighth on the first lap. We slipped to ninth, but I felt good, as my lap time was better than in practice, so I felt the setting was good and the tyre choice was OK. Then from the middle of the race I felt some front chattering problems and with this happening I couldn’t push hard towards the end of the race and things got a little bit worse. This was a big shame as our qualifying position was quite good. It has proved to be yet another difficult race, but I’m looking forward to the next race at the Czech Republic after I’ve had some rest at home in Japan. We should have some new parts which makes the second part of the season very exciting for us. Carlos Checa - 14th: It was a difficult race and after the opening laps I couldn’t stay with the second group and fight for a place in the top ten which was my target today. I pushed until the end but nothing I tried made a difference, so we need to try and better understand our package of new chassis and tyres. I did not have the feeling with the rear of the bike that I needed to be faster and this is something to look at for the coming races. Hopefully a return to Europe and the race at Brno will be a boost for me and the LCR team. John Hopkins - 15th: What can I say? It definitely sucks and I’m really disappointed. It was especially disappointing that it was my home Grand Prix and I was out of it so early on. Up until the crash everything was going well. I got a good start and went into the turn right up there. Somehow Nicky came wide and I went up the inside of him, but as I did that I guess he didn’t see me and as he cut back in we came together. He hit my front brake lever and I went down. I got back to the pits and the crew did an awesome job changing the parts so quickly so that I could get back in the race. I wanted to carry on and use the race as a simulation, but now that I have come in and seen my times compared to others I’m a bit more disappointed – but hey that’s racing! The Suzuki and the Bridgestone tyres worked really well today, and thanks to Stuart and all the guys for a great job all weekend. I’d like to congratulate Chris on his podium, he should have had one last year so he deserved that today, I’m pretty sure I’d have been there with him as well if other things hadn’t have happened! Chaz Davies – 16th: It was a difficult race for me, but I’m very happy to have taken part in this. At the beginning, I was really worried because it was my first race in MotoGP, I was on a complicated track, the race was 32 long laps, and along with the notorious corkscrew, I was pretty worried.  I got a fantastic start, but then I made a couple of mistakes and I lost the group. I went off-track at the corkscrew and propably a stone from there damaged my bike because suddenly it started to vibrate in strange way.  Fortunately, mechanics were able to take care of everything, and I was able to re-join the race with a bike that worked very well. In fact, just few laps to the end, I made my best time!  I want to thanks to the Pramac d’Antin Team, Bridgestone, and Ducati, who gave me this opportunity, and also, good luck to Alex Hofmann.   Nicky Hayden - DNF: It’s such a shame to get this result at my home race, for me, the team and for the fans. It’s certainly been a tough season and this is just the way things seem to be going – another first lap incident. I don’t want to say too much about that because it isn’t going to make things any different so we’ll leave the incident at that. Luckily I didn’t get hurt because I took big impact on my leg. The main thing is that it damaged my brake cable and as soon as I got going after three laps my brakes just went softer and softer and the adjuster was broken which meant I couldn’t take any of the slack out of it. I carried on riding in case there was a red flag, but once I went a lap down I wasn’t going to get in the leaders’ way with the brakes going off, I’m not going to do that to anybody, so I brought it in the pits. It’s a shame for all the fans because the support here was unreal and I would at least have enjoyed getting in the race and having a battle. We had some good momentum going with a couple of podiums in a row, but now we’ve got a few weeks off and we definitely need to re-evaluate a few things and come back fighting. Miguel Duhamel - DNF: I’d like to thank Honda USA and Fausto Gresini for this great experience. During the race I decided to stop and enter the pits because I wasn’t getting any fed back I couldn’t get into the rhythm of the bike. After the crash this morning during warm-up, I didn’t want to do any damage during the race, to the team or to any of the other riders. Despite this, I’m happy about this race weekend with the Gresini team. Kurtis Roberts - DNF: We’re struggling right now. I thought the electronics or something were going out. So right after that I was like, this thing ain’t going to make it anyway. But the good thing with Honda is they’ll figure out what’s wrong with this thing and I feel sorry for everyone else in the paddock next year. That’s my thinking. If it’s the same Honda I’ve always known. Loris Capirossi - DNF: The weekend had been going very well, so I'm sad not to finish the race. In morning warm-up we were faster than yesterday so I was confident I could have a good race. Casey and Chris were very fast but I believe I could have fought for another podium finish. After a couple of laps the gearbox stuck in second gear and that was that. It seems like it was only a tiny little fault, but sometimes things like that can happen in racing.

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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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