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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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2007-11-03 Rider claims after Valencia qualifying
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 Second place in MotoGP championship becomes wide open for tomorrow's race, as Dani Pedrosa today grabbed pole position for Grand Prix of Catalunya, managing also to find decent race pace, close to one set by Stoner. Valentino Rossi, on the other hand, has suffered three fractures in his arm, and he will try to get that one point to same second place in championship. Read impressions of MotoGP riders after qualifying.
Dani Pedrosa - Pole position:
Well, I'm very happy to be on pole position again - and especially here in front of my home fans because I really want to give them a good result. There are already many people here looking for Spanish success and tomorrow I'm sure there will be even more. We must try to improve our machine settings further and find that little bit extra for the race because the lap times are still very close and we cannot relax at all. Thirty laps makes it a long race and tyre choice will be critical of course to give us the best chance of maintaining our pace right until the end. The practice was positive this afternoon and I was able to go fast on race tyres as well. The Michelin qualifiers also worked very well again and I was able to improve on my second lap by quite a lot - which was just enough for pole position. The weekend has gone well so far and I hope I can make a good start and challenge for the win tomorrow.
Casey Stoner - 2nd:
I'm pretty happy again, we're on the front row and we've been concentrating on the race setting. I've probably got the record for the most second places in qualifying this year; again we missed out on pole by a few thousandths, it's been like that every time we've nearly been on pole this year. The race set-up is looking pretty good and we're quite happy with race distance on the tyres; like this morning we started out with eight laps already on the tyres and finished the session with the same set. But we are still trying to get slightly better lap times towards the end, just to make sure we are competitive at the end of the race. We just need to improve the traction a little bit, because the turning and everything else seems fine. And we've still got to decide what rear tyre to run, depending on what the weather does. It's nice to win the car - Adriana has already scored it!
Nicky Hayden - 3rd:
When I put the qualifiers on, the bike was really good and fun to ride - that was by far the most fun I've had this weekend and I dropped my lap time by two and a half seconds. But it's honestly been a bit of a nightmare this weekend up to now. For whatever reason I cannot get the race tyres to work for me here. I've had a lot of luck with the 16-inch rear tyre at the last few races but at Valencia it's been really tough. Still, I've got some good guys around me and an excellent team so we'll definitely be trying something huge to improve things for tomorrow. Being on the front row is a big advantage here, though I know these guys are going to make it tough. Race day is always a different story and anything can happen so we'll just try to stick our nose in there, put a bid in and try to finish off the year really well. I'm excited about the race - I wish I was quicker on race tyres but we'll see what happens when the light goes out. Whatever happens, I'd like to dedicate this performance to Merlyn Plumlee, my mechanic from AMA Superbike who died from cancer last week. He will be sadly missed and I'm definitely thinking about him and his family.
Randy de Puniet - 4th:
I was hoping for the first row for my last race for Kawasaki but still, my position is pretty good because it's very difficult to overtake here. We've improved the race set up hugely on the bike today and I managed to do good, consistent times during the sessions. I had a big slide on my final qualifier, just before I had to brake for a corner, so I lost a couple of tenths and, because of that, narrowly missed out on the front row. I hope to continue to improve during tomorrow's warm up but I'm feeling really good.
John Hopkins - 7th:
I’d have liked to have at least been on the second row, but I’m not too unhappy with where we have qualified. It was definitely our best session of the weekend this afternoon, and we have made some improvements to the machine. We worked hard with Bridgestone to find a consistent tyre to use in the race and we are really happy with what we have got. The crew have done an excellent job again this weekend to get the bike prepared and I feel really good as well, so now it’s time to get a good start tomorrow and end my Suzuki career on a high. I am going for that podium – that’s the ultimate plan!
Loris Capirossi - 8th:
I'm pretty happy because we've set up the bike quite well. We changed the weight distribution slightly to put more weight on the rear for more traction and I could feel the improvement. We have still to decide between two different compound race tyres. Maybe we will try the harder tyre in warm-up to see if it will work well in the race. Anyway, I'm happy, I was lapping consistently around the 1m 33.5s mark and that's not bad. With my qualifying tyres I made a mistake during my first run and I came across a slower rider on the second run. That kind of thing happens, so no problem. The important thing is that we've found a good set-up and I think we can have a good race.
Carlos Checa - 9th:
Last night I suffered excruciating stomach pains which appears to be from an infection or obstruction in my intestine. I was amazed this morning when I had recovered enough to ride and I’m very satisfied to be ninth on the grid. I will return to the hospital for a secondary blood tests tonight so that doctors can confirm their diagnosis. I can only have a liquid diet and continue to take a medicine, with some mild laxative, and hope that I can complete the 30 laps tomorrow. This is my final grand prix so it is important for me and my fans and friends here. I want to thank the Clinica Mobile staff who treated me at circuit and also remained with me until 3 am in the hospital.
Marco Melandri - 10th:
We've got a good race pace and we showed that on a long run on used tyres today. Unfortunately the extra grip on a qualifying tyre made the chattering worse and that prevented me from setting a good lap time. I'm disappointed because to start from the fourth row is a big handicap. It's difficult to get the right side of the tyre warmed up at this circuit over the first few laps but I think we can use this to our advantage and cut down the gap to some of the riders at the front. It will be important to get a good start and get past the riders with a slower pace than me as early as possible in the race. The podium is not impossible, it will be a long and demanding race from a physical point of view because it's a tight and twisty track. I feel ready for the final race of the year.
Chris Vermeulen - 11th:
It was quite a difficult session as I didn’t really get on with the qualifying tyres today. We’re on the fourth row and that’s going to be tough here as it’s a difficult track to pass on. At the start of the afternoon I did a 15-lap run on race tyres, the lap times were very consistent and the tyre showed good durability, so we think we will be strong right to the end of tomorrow’s race. The bike is working well, so now it’s down to me getting away from the line and using my elbows to push my way through in turn one!
Alex Barros - 12th:
I know I'm in a bad position to start the race tomorrow. Everything is good enough, though, because we have a good set-up, adequate tires for the race, and I like this track a lot, as demonstrated by my finishing in the top five in two of the sessions. The problem I have is with the Qualifying tires, because I can't get everything out of them, and that means a worse spot on the grid. Tomorrow, the question will be whether or not I can get a great start and pass many people as possible in the least amount of time so I can run with the front. Lastly, I want to apologize to Loris for inadvertently slowing him while he was on his fast lap and costing him valuable positions.
Shinya Nakano - 13th:
I had a good rhythm in the first and second sectors on that last qualifying lap, and pushed hard in that final third sector – I was giving 120%! Things felt really good but then after the back straight under braking I lost the front, which meant I lost around four or five tenths of a second. On the positive side of things, conditions were much better today with higher temperatures which has given us more grip so I could push much harder than yesterday. We didn’t make many changes to the bike today as we found a good balance on Friday and we’ve also found a good tyre for the race. The start is vitally important here, as things can get busy in the first turn and for the whole of the first lap. I will have to be pushing hard right from the beginning of the race.
Toni Elias - 14th:
It has been a tough weekend - we are struggling because we don't' have enough traction and the feeling is even worse on a qualifying tyre. We'll keep working with the team to find a solution for tomorrow and we still haven't made a tyre choice for the race, which will be crucial. I just hope we can come up with something that allows me to be consistent over 30 long laps in the race.
Colin Edwards - 15th:
We tried a different profile front tyre with our qualifying tyres this afternoon, similar to what we used in Le Mans and Donington when I was on pole, but I just didn’t really have enough time to get used to it. Some of the lines were a bit different and I couldn’t quite find the key in the few laps available; I just wasn’t able to make the most of it, which is a pity. On race tyres we’re still having some problems and I’m disappointed to be starting my last race with the Factory Team from fifteenth. I’m determined not to end it there though so I’m going to be going for all or nothing tomorrow. We’ll have a look at the data tonight and do our best to find something radical to help me go out there and fight my way through.
Anthony West - 16th:
I haven't been able to find my pace so far and have struggled a bit to find a good set up for tomorrow. I thought I'd show more improvement today than I have but I'm finding it harder at Valencia on the MotoGP bike than on the smaller capacity machines I've ridden here. I'm more angry than injured after my small crash, and I don't have the same confidence I had in, say, Sepang, but now I will look towards the race and do everything I can to do my best.
Valentino Rossi - 18th:
So, I’m okay, but I was better before the crash! I was going quite well and able to do 33.3 quite easily, but then at a certain point, when I was accelerating, I lost the rear. I tried to get the bike back but it was too late. After the crash I immediately realised that my hand was broken but I didn’t know how bad it was. I hit my lower back quite hard as well and actually it hurts quite a lot, but luckily there is no bad damage there. Tomorrow morning I will see how I am and then I will take a decision after further consideration with Claudio (Dr. Costa) and also with the Spanish doctors. I have never missed a race in my career and I really don’t want to do it tomorrow. I remember last year in Assen the pain was more or less the same, but then I was challenging for the championship. Tomorrow I am challenging for second place; it’s not quite the same but anyway of course I will would like to be there.
Kurtis Roberts - 18th:
It's always frustrating, but from the team's and my standpoint, it's been good. It's frustrating when you're out with guys and you're easily as fast as them ... until you get to the last corner onto the straightaway. If we could accelerate with them it would be a lot more fun. But we're doing competitive times with the next four or five guys ahead of us, so tomorrow hopefully we'll be able to race with Colin (Edwards) and them guys, and get a good result for what we're on. I like this track - it's a fun layout, one of the better race-tracks. It's small, but it has a good variety of corners. Turn One is really fast and you can brake in deep. It has some slow corners, but they're not all one line, which is nice. You can get in too hot and still make the corner, and not lose any time. Normally it's all one line.
Chaz Davies - 19th:
Well, what can I say? This morning I was in a lot of pain, but we did a good job and were ready for the Qualifying session this afternoon. The set-up was getting good and little by little I was lowering my times. When I went back out on-track to get a better place on the grid with the Qualifying tire, I committed the same mistake I made yesterday by opening the gas too much before the tire was in the right condition, and I crashed again. It was in the first right-hand corner after six lefts before it, so that may have had something to do with it. The race tomorrow will be very hard for me, because my hand and body are in a lot of pain, but like always, I'm going to give it everything I've got.
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