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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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2007-07-15 Rider claims after Sachsering race
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 Today's race at Sachsenring was great comeback for Dani Pedrosa and Honda on the top, and it seems that Bridgestone riders were in trouble in second part of the race, unlike we used to see on previous races. Read about the race from rider perspective.
Dani Pedrosa - race winner:
I'm very, very happy with the result today. This is a victory I'd like to dedicate to the Repsol Honda Team and to HRC because they have been working really hard for a long time without getting the results and I'm very happy they've kept motivation and put in maximum effort at every race. Now they have some reward. Also I'm pleased for the fans because they've given me great support even when I wasn't winning. The race went very well obviously. I made a good start, pushed hard from the beginning and was able to open up a gap and control things from the front. The tyres were really good today and Michelin did a very good job, especially as some riders were having difficulties. Towards the end of the race the gap was big so I could take it relatively easy, which I was grateful for because it was very hot out there. The result closes the gap slightly in the championship which is good, but the really important thing about today is that we are winning again. Hopefully we can move on from this result and continue getting stronger.
Loris Capirossi - 2nd:
It's been a long time, but I'm back! My team worked really hard here to find the best solution for the race. We changed the weight distribution, putting more weight on the front to give me more confidence going into the turns. The first half of the season was tough but I hope that we have now found a good way to go quick for the rest of the season. My thanks also to the Bridgestone guys, because we worked hard to choose the best race tyres, deciding to use a different rear from most of the other Bridgestone riders. At the start of the race I didn't push too hard, my tactic was to save the tyres, so I stayed behind Marco [Melandri] in fourth place. Later on I was able to continue my rhythm and move forward. I knew Nicky (Hayden) was coming during the last laps but I had enough to hold on.
Nicky Hayden - 3rd:
It's great to be on the podium after what started as a really tough weekend. The team did a great job overnight and made some big improvements to the machine. I came out in the warm-up and it was a lot quicker so even though I was starting from 14th I still had some confidence for the race. I made a decent start - not as good as the one at Assen - but I made up a few places into the first corner. Then I heard a strange noise from the bike and slowed for a couple of laps trying to figure out if it was a problem. It didn't seem to make any difference though so I just got my head down and started picking up places. The tyres worked really well today, so a big thanks to Michelin. It's a good result ahead of Laguna but I need to put the whole weekend together on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We lost almost all of Friday with problems and Saturday didn't go much better which cost us a lot. Dani rode really well to win the race and two riders on the podium is a really good result for the Repsol Honda Team. Now I'm just going to go home to the U.S. GP, enjoy the race and try to have some fun at Laguna.
Colin Edwards - 4th:
The beginning of that race was pretty tough, I almost crashed out a few times and it felt like I almost had too much grip on the rear! As time went on though I started to feel better and better and when Hayden passed me back again it made me pretty determined to keep pushing. Suddenly I looked up and there were three of them in front of me and at that stage I felt like the podium was a possibility. Getting past Stoner and Melandri was fine but I couldn't quite get back to Hayden which was a pity. A podium would have been nice but, after yesterday's qualifying, I'm pretty happy with fourth; it's my best ever finish here by miles. It was an exhausting race and you don't realise till you cross the finish line how much strain thirty laps around here puts on the left side of your body - my shoulder's pretty sore now! I want to say a big thank you to Michelin, my team and Yamaha because they've had to work really hard this weekend to find a way to make things come together and they did a great job. We knew this morning that we'd found a good package and to finish fourth after starting thirteenth is great. We're heading for Laguna on a high.
Casey Stoner - 5th:
At the start of the race I was pretty happy sitting behind Dani. He was able to find a little more traction than me in most parts and he had a bit more confidence in his bike through a lot of the turns, so I was just trying to stay there or thereabouts and see what happened at the end of the race. I didn't want to push too much harder, I was slowly pulling a gap on Melandri behind me and I thought I really want to save my tyres for the end. Then unfortunately we lost some rear grip and we weren't able to keep the same lap times, so we slowly started to drop through the pack, but we ended up fifth. Today was a damage limitation exercise. Dani [Pedrosa, the race winner] rode a great race, he was untouchable today. Towards the end Marco and John seemed to have a lot more grip than me in a few places, anyway, I fought them off and we were able to keep fifth position which is a few more points. I'm kind of disappointed, I felt we could have had a minimum of second today, reasonably easy, so we'll just have to come back at the next race and try to be stronger and iron out our weak points.
Marco Melandri - 6th:
I got a good start and tried to hang on to Stoner without risking too much. The bike was working really well but Pedrosa set an incredibly strong pace. Once I got past Stoner, about ten laps from the end, the tyres were just gone. From then on I tried to keep the pace, manage the race and even tried to get fifth place back off Casey but it was too risky. I'm happy though because we're competitive again and today I was able to fight for the podium. We've taken a big step forward here and I have to say thanks again to Honda for the new material they brought here. The engine is much sweeter and I can manage the throttle in a way that suits my style much more. I like the idea of racing again next weekend and I can't wait to get back on the bike at Laguna Seca – a track I'm sure will suit the bike and the Bridgestone tyres really well.
John Hopkins - 7th:
I got a good start and after the first turn battle for positions I got away clear and with the front guys. I got into a good rhythm, but made a couple of mistakes and lost a bit of ground to the riders in front of me. I kept my head down and tried to ride as smoothly and efficiently as I could while still doing the lap times, because I knew it was going to be a hard, long and hot race. With about seven laps to go we ran into some tyre problems and we were really struggling for edge grip – especially on the left-handers. I then got into a battle with Melandri and Stoner and I’ve got to say it was the strangest race I’ve ever been in - at the end, with the lack of rear grip - it was harder than riding in the rain! I have extended my fourth place lead a little bit and now I am looking forward to going to America and giving it all I’ve got!
Anthony West - 8th:
I’m really happy with this result as I wanted to keep making a step forward at every round and it’s worked out this weekend. It was tough, though. A lot of people crashed and grip on the track wasn’t too good, because of the heat I think, which meant I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to. I followed Hayden for a while, and he pulled me towards Edwards before he overtook him, but then I nearly crashed. I lost the front end going in to turn five, managed to pick the bike up on my knee and was lucky to stay on. That dropped me back a bit, and I tried to catch Colin, but I needed to conserve the tyres, even though I wanted to go faster. I wasn’t sure they’d last the race but they did, so I’m pleased I finished and I’m happy with my position.
Alex Hofmann - 9th:
It was a difficult race for me, because of both the very hot temperatures and now my hand is aching. I’m very tired, but at the same time happy for my final result because after only one week from my surgical operation I thought that I wouldn’t be able to ride. My starting grid position really hurt me, but I made a good race start by trying to remain with the group and pushing more in the final laps. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do this because today we had some difficulties with the tires and especially in the rear, we didn’t have enough grip. Now I have a couple of days for me to relax and then we’ll be racing at discuss Laguna Seca, where I hope to be in better shape.
Michel Fabrizio - 10th:
I’m happy with this result – my target was to finish in the top ten and I was close. It was a really tough race, physically very demanding and also because the pace was so fast. It’s been a nice experience for me and a real bonus in what has been a hard year.
Chris Vermeulen - 11th:
I had a problem with the clutch on the start-line and I couldn’t hold the bike still when it was in gear. It was creeping forward and I went later than everyone so I wouldn’t get a jump start, but there was nothing I could do and I just edged over the line before the lights changed. After the ride-through I just got my head down and did the laps and tried to make up some places. It was very difficult conditions out there for the tyres, but we managed to get some decent enough points considering how the start went. I am sure we can all learn from this experience and now go on to Laguna and see if we can get the result this time that we deserved last year!
Kurtis Roberts - 12th:
The thing wasn't quite as perky on the acceleration as it should have been, I thought. Maybe we had a little bit of a clutch slip problem or something. We just hung in there and did what we could do really and let everyone fall off around us and ended up getting 12th. We got more points for the team and that's important for these guys. And now I'm really looking forward to Laguna Seca, just because I know the track. It's just going to be nice to go there and not have to keep learning the track. At least I know the lines, which is something these other riders have every weekend that I don't. And I'm excited about the new bike and the progress the team's making. We're limited right now by something on this bike and hopefully the new chassis will fix that and we can start earning a lot more positions, a lot higher up in the finishing order. Because I know I can ride with these guys. I know Honda's capable of building the best four-strokes in the world, and I know my dad's team can build a great chassis, and I know Michelin makes the best tires. So now we just need to get the whole package to work and I think it'll be a lot more like last year to us.
Carlos Checa - 14th:
I don’t know what happened, the crash was a surprise. I arrived at turn 12, a little on the inside, and just lost the front-end. Apart from the crash the bike feeling today was not as fluid as in practice but was OK. With this new chassis we have been making a lot of changes, even for the warm-up this morning. It is difficult to understand this situation but now we must stay positive and look ahead to the USGP next weekend.
Alex Barros - DNF:
I’m very unhappy with my race result. In these past few days, injuries and all, I was still able to perform well in the free practices, and for Today I hoped to get a good result. I got a strong start, but after just few laps I knew that something wasn’t so good; Today the tires were not working very well, but also my hand gave me some difficulties. Probably, this combination was responsible for my fall. I did my best to ride in this race, but of course, my physical condition wasn’t so good. Now my wound is a lot more painful because the anaesthetic effect is wearing off, but even if only partially, I hope to recover some for the next week in Laguna Seca.
Valentino Rossi - DNF:
Unfortunately I made a mistake today and I want to say sorry to everyone - my team, Yamaha and of course all my fans. I lost some places at the start and had to wait a lap before I could start to push, but everything was feeling very good. Getting past de Puniet was hard because in the part of the track where it's best to overtake he was very fast. Finally I made my move and I made a great pass but I made a mistake and lost the front. I'm so disappointed because today our package was working very well and we missed the chance to make up a lot of points on Stoner. We know from Pedrosa and Colin's performance that the Michelin tyres worked well until the end and I'm sad that we weren't there to fight. Luckily Stoner was only fifth so the points situation is not as bad as it could have been. I'm very glad we only have seven days until the next race because right now I'm feeling quite bad, but very determined for America!
Shinya Nakano - DNF:
I made a good start and overtook a couple of riders on the first lap. With the hot conditions the pace was not so fast, so I could stay with the group but the problem came after just five laps. It felt like the engine was suffering from a lack of performance and it felt like it locked-up once. The engine was still running so I tried to come back at the riders ahead, but the problem returned. Finally power was dropping off with every lap, so I retired with 11 laps to go. It’s a big shame as our tyre choice was good so we have been unlucky. I’m hoping that we will finally get the result we deserve at Laguna next week.
Randy de Puniet - DNF:
I don’t know what happened. The engine started to play up in the last two laps I did but I don't know what the problem was. Before that, in the middle of the race, I got a lot of movement in the front tyre, which is why my lap times weren’t that good. It was difficult to control the bike but I was just trying to keep my place. Then, about ten laps in, the rear started to slide a lot, on entry, the middle of the bends and on the exit but even then, I still felt it was possible to finish. I had to retire just after I crossed the line, two laps from the end and I’m obviously very disappointed about that.
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