Post by voyeur on Nov 3, 2004 18:32:33 GMT -5
Another interview with Valentino I thought you all might enjoy. It is too long for one post so I have split it into two
“Right,” said the slender Italian beauty who had ushered us in to the inner sanctum of the Gauloises-Fortuna hospitality tent. “Now, about your questions for Valentino.
“Nothing about girls, religion, drugs or politics.”
Self and American colleague, ready and willing to take up our 15-minute slot with Valentino Rossi (officially you only get one per year) stare at her, wide-eyed. She gives a tinkling laugh. “I’m joking. But I suggest that you only ask about things that you will use in your interview.”
She wasn’t joking, of course. And to respond that, with such a limited time, we’d hardly be asking Valentino stuff that we didn’t plan to use would be to show that we’d missed the point. Which was: You’re in a privileged position getting time with the world’s most wonderful motorcycle racer. Don’t blow it, or none of us will ever speak to you again.
This is a far cry from the Rossi both of us knew from his early years. As an androgynous teenage 125 rider with a Prince Valiant hairstyle, you could hardly get rid of him. He courted the press assiduously, spending hour after hour in the press room. Then he got bitten a couple of times (the Italian press being more than somewhat cut-throat) and also got famous enough that he started to value privacy above publicity.
It might sound as though Prince Valiant has turned into the Snow Queen. Then Rossi breezes in, grinning and joking. Same as ever. As we knew. It’s just the retinue that’s different, closely guarding every minute of his time. And given the pressure on him, for matters beyond the hard enough task of racing the Yamaha against a fistful of Hondas, that’s understandable.
So if he can ignore the three minders who attend the interview, well, so can we. The only real challenge is to try and find questions that he hasn’t already answered a hundred times or more.
Q: I’d like to ask about some things you weren’t able to talk about earlier, about how the move to Yamaha came about. One thing: they made the new engine for this year. When did you know about that? Was that an important factor for your decision?
ROSSI: No. I didn’t know about the engine when I decided to change. I knew about the new engine only when we went to Malaysia for the first or second test.
Q: If that wasn’t a factor, then the engine must have been a worry. What was your biggest worry about the switch.
ROSSI: I was worried about everything, but I moved especially for my personal motivation. Because at the end with Honda, I’d already win three championships in a row. To stay another two years would have been a fight for me, to work for something that I had already done.
Q: It seemed last year that there were two parts of the year for you. When you came back for Brno, you were a different guy. You were happy, you enjoyed racing, you put on a show after winning the race. It was a big change. Was that because you had already decided to go to Yamaha?
ROSSI: I decided later than that. We started to speak during the year, but I had not decided at that time. At the beginning of last season, I took the pressure in the wrong way. Was too hard. I didn’t have a run. And when we came back (after the break) it all re-started in the right way.
Q: When the decision was finally made, it must have been a weight off your shoulders.
ROSSI: Yes, for sure. Was a crazy decision, but when I decided – yes, we go, I had a good feeling for sure.
“Right,” said the slender Italian beauty who had ushered us in to the inner sanctum of the Gauloises-Fortuna hospitality tent. “Now, about your questions for Valentino.
“Nothing about girls, religion, drugs or politics.”
Self and American colleague, ready and willing to take up our 15-minute slot with Valentino Rossi (officially you only get one per year) stare at her, wide-eyed. She gives a tinkling laugh. “I’m joking. But I suggest that you only ask about things that you will use in your interview.”
She wasn’t joking, of course. And to respond that, with such a limited time, we’d hardly be asking Valentino stuff that we didn’t plan to use would be to show that we’d missed the point. Which was: You’re in a privileged position getting time with the world’s most wonderful motorcycle racer. Don’t blow it, or none of us will ever speak to you again.
This is a far cry from the Rossi both of us knew from his early years. As an androgynous teenage 125 rider with a Prince Valiant hairstyle, you could hardly get rid of him. He courted the press assiduously, spending hour after hour in the press room. Then he got bitten a couple of times (the Italian press being more than somewhat cut-throat) and also got famous enough that he started to value privacy above publicity.
It might sound as though Prince Valiant has turned into the Snow Queen. Then Rossi breezes in, grinning and joking. Same as ever. As we knew. It’s just the retinue that’s different, closely guarding every minute of his time. And given the pressure on him, for matters beyond the hard enough task of racing the Yamaha against a fistful of Hondas, that’s understandable.
So if he can ignore the three minders who attend the interview, well, so can we. The only real challenge is to try and find questions that he hasn’t already answered a hundred times or more.
Q: I’d like to ask about some things you weren’t able to talk about earlier, about how the move to Yamaha came about. One thing: they made the new engine for this year. When did you know about that? Was that an important factor for your decision?
ROSSI: No. I didn’t know about the engine when I decided to change. I knew about the new engine only when we went to Malaysia for the first or second test.
Q: If that wasn’t a factor, then the engine must have been a worry. What was your biggest worry about the switch.
ROSSI: I was worried about everything, but I moved especially for my personal motivation. Because at the end with Honda, I’d already win three championships in a row. To stay another two years would have been a fight for me, to work for something that I had already done.
Q: It seemed last year that there were two parts of the year for you. When you came back for Brno, you were a different guy. You were happy, you enjoyed racing, you put on a show after winning the race. It was a big change. Was that because you had already decided to go to Yamaha?
ROSSI: I decided later than that. We started to speak during the year, but I had not decided at that time. At the beginning of last season, I took the pressure in the wrong way. Was too hard. I didn’t have a run. And when we came back (after the break) it all re-started in the right way.
Q: When the decision was finally made, it must have been a weight off your shoulders.
ROSSI: Yes, for sure. Was a crazy decision, but when I decided – yes, we go, I had a good feeling for sure.
