P54
IN
THE
WIND
Lewis, Valentino Swap Rides
C
urrent Formula One World
Champion Lewis Hamilton
and seven time MotoGP World
Champion Valentino Rossi recent-
ly swapped rides at the Ricardo
Tormo Circuit in Valencia, Spain.
The event was organized by
the pair's mutual sponsor, Mon-
ster Energy. Hamilton, an avid
and rather fast bike rider in his
own right, spent the day riding
Rossi's Monster Energy YZF-M1
after some exploration laps on a
YZF-R1M street bike, with Rossi
spending the day in Hamilton's
2017 Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ
Power+, the same machine Ham-
ilton used to secure that year's
world title.
"It's so awesome to see a
legend like Valentino in the car,"
Hamilton said. "I'm excited for
him, for discovering the car for
the first time. Reminds me of my
first time in an F1 car. When you
see all the team around you, it's
just a different animal."
Rossi was equally enthused
about his time in the Mercedes,
which was his first taste of the
turbo Formula One car after
previously testing for Ferrari on
multiple occasions during 2006.
"I was a big fan of Lewis' before
but now I am even more," Rossi
said. "We had a fantastic day
where the two top classes of mo-
torsports not only met but worked
together. I felt like a real F1 driver
for a day. I didn't want the day to
end.
"I also rode the YZR-M1 on
track with Lewis. It was a proud
moment for the team to share
our passion with him. Techni-
cally, Valencia is a hard track and
today was windy so at one point
I thought it would be difficult for
Lewis to continue, but he was
brilliant on the bike and his posi-
tion on the M1 was great. I think
he had loads of fun which is the
main thing." CN
