MotoGP: The Next Step for Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi is on the track of becoming the biggest legend of MotoGP, with 9 Grand Prix World Championships already to his name. Despite his injuries, the Italian’s performance in the last Grand Prix of Germany has shown his qualities. He is the fiercest of the riders in MotoGP, who is always feared on the field. However, his dreams of another MotoGP title, in the current season, were hampered by an accident that resulted in a broken leg for the Italian. Due to this, he missed four races in a row, which gave other riders a considerable lead over him in the points table. Especially, his teammate, Jorge Lorenzo, has gotten out of reach, while other riders have also gone past the Italian.
However, after only six weeks of sitting out, Valentino Rossi could not wait any longer. After a brief test drive on Yamaha Superbike, Valentino Rossi decided to come back to racing, at least a month before the actual time of his comeback. Although, he had severe pains in his shoulders and ankle, but Rossi had to return to MotoGP. In the absence of the Italian, the MotoGP was not good enough, as Jorge Lorenzo just had one-sided races, in which no one was able to challenge the superiority of the FIAT Yamaha bike.
The expectations for the Sachsenring race, in the Rossi’s camp, were not too high. The only demand from the returning Italian was that of a good race and a possible finish at fourth of fifth spot. In the Qualifying session, Rossi did manage to place a time in the fifth position on the grid; thus, everything was going according to the plan for the team.
However, the race was better than expected. Valentino Rossi did put up an excellent show for his fans and his team management, as he overtook Hayden for the fourth position. Soon, he was competing for the third position, and gave a very hard time to the Australian, Casey Stoner. There were several overtaking manoeuvres; however, at the last corner of the race, he was finally beaten. Thus, Casey Stoner took the last podium spot, but the winner of this whole episode was undoubtedly Valentino Rossi.
After the race, the Rossi camp was more excited than any other rider on the circuit. This excitement was shown by Rossi at the post match interview as well. The rider said that there were still pains in his shoulders and leg, but the excitement of the race with Casey Stoner made him forget about his worries. In fact, for the most part of the race, Valentino Rossi did not look like an injured person, but back to his normal self. Even, his team manager, Divide Brivio, showed a lot content after a wonderful race by the Italian. He said that he had doubts about the race, but a superb performance by Rossi had changed things. There were actually no worries in the Rossi’s camp, and the things were going according to the plan.
The next race would be the Red Bull US Grand Prix, in Laguna. This race would also mark the half way of the season, after which there would be a break of two weeks. Thus, Rossi would be concentrating on this race, because after that he would be focusing on the rest he is going to get after the 9th race of the season. Maybe, the Rossi’s team were setting their goals slowly, because they had no idea about the outcomes of the injury. Now the team has to set higher goals for the Italian, because he has proven that he is up for the task. Therefore, in the US Grand Prix, the team has set a probable goal of at least a podium finish for the Italian.
Actually, in the last few races, Casey Stoner has been getting the third podium spot, so Rossi would have to battle the Australian, once more. The goal is not that high, and it is quite achievable. However, the major cause of concern in the Rossi’s camp would be that because of missing a lot of the races, Rossi might show signs of fatigue. Still, the aim is set up high, and if it is achieved, then Rossi would regain the confidence to win races in the latter half of the season.
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