Valentino Rossi says he had not forgotten the skill of riding – MotoGP news
Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi is in the limelight these days and in his most recent interview, the Italian claims that he had not forgotten how to ride a MotoGP bike, despite of two consecutive
winless seasons.
“I was quite sure that after two bad seasons I had not forgotten how to ride. But in the last two seasons the way to ride the bike has changed very much, especially the electronics and the
tyres,” Rossi said.
By finishing third in his most recent on-track appearance at the Sepang, Rossi proved that he had quite successfully adapted to the ‘new’ riding style which had already been mastered by the
likes of Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and the retired Casey Stoner.
“The riding style of the top guys - Stoner, Pedrosa and Lorenzo - is very different compared to 2008 and 2009. So I had to change a lot and I think I managed quite well,” explained Rossi.
“The motivation is 1000 times more than in the last years, where you know you can fight for sixth place,” Rossi further said while talking about how motivated he was for the upcoming MotoGP
season which starts in Qatar in less than two months time.
According to Rossi, his Yamaha teammate Lorenzo has improved a lot since claiming his first MotoGP title in 2010, the same time when Rossi’s downfall started. Rossi believes that challenging
Lorenzo will be a tough call.
In the past, Rossi claimed championship titles riding three different bikes, Aprilia, Honda and Yamaha but no matter how hard the Italian tried, he could not do the same riding a Ducati bike.
Rossi abstained from any finger pointing at Ducati and summed up the story by adding that ‘it just did not like his bike.’
After two years, ‘The Doctor’ will again be riding for Yamaha Factory Racing, the same team which 4 MotoGP crowns for the 34-year-old. The initial signs have been in favour of Rossi’s come
back. If all goes well, Lorenzo and Pedrosa will surely find a worthy competitor in the form of Rossi.
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