Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Valentino Rossi By Paolo Gozzi f/, I alentino Rossi has just completed four tri - umphant years with Aprilia in both 125 and 250cc Grand Prix racing. Now there's a new challeng e, as a Honda NSR500 awaits the young Italian. But he won't go into his new foray alone. Instead, he will join Mick Doohan's crew chief of years past, Jeremy Burges s - one of the mos t respected men in the paddock for not only his work with Doohan but also his champion sh ips with Freddie Spencer and Wayne Gardner. In only four seaso ns of racin g, Rossi has put himself among th e g re a ts, winnin g both th e 125 and 250cc World Cha m pio nships. His 250cc title in 1999 mad e him the you nges t to d o so in the hist ory of the GPs - he is just 20 years old . Now, Ros si believes he is read y to mov e on - to the pinnacle of Grand Prix racing. "I had nothing else to show in the 250s," Rossi said . "I won the title in the best way, winning nine races on 16 [starts]. In the 2000 season, if I would have stayed in the 250 I wouldn't make better than this . Winning a second World Championship wouldn't add any thing more at this point - if I had lost it would have been a poor result. Now I got into 500 at a good moment - there is no more Doohan, the reference pilot in th e last years, and the races hav e a lower level. So it's better for me because I have to ga in experience. I know it will hard to learn to go to the line [the limit! with the 500, bu t I'm curious. I want to show how much I'm grea t as soon as possible." Rossi met Burgess and some of the other crew that will make up his new team in the recen t Au stralian round of the series. "There was too much people [around ] at th at tim e, so we could n' t speak," Rossi said. "The Honda is beau tiful. It's a bit old, but it rem ain s a fasci nating bik e th e best th at a p ilot can wish for. I'm "/7 ~ '" '" '" as ~ c;; .a E u '" C '" 6 s orry becau s e I co u ld n ' t hear -it runnin g." SOO)) he will hear its noise - from its seat. "I know it will be d ifficult to a d ap t ," Rossi admits. ':.It has man y ho rsepower" and bein g able to keep them under control will be h ard . In t he 500 , going alw ays a t the top is difficult " only Doohan was able to make it t h e r e in 'eecent tim es . Some riders as IA4ex] Criville, [Tadayuki] 0ka d a and [Kenny] Roberts mad e w ond erful races . then the foll owing weekend they made disasters. I don 't think they are unable, but I think that it' s very d ifficu lt to know th e limit you can 't cross. In the 250, I didn't have particular problem s. Sometimes I suffered during the tests, but th en I w a s alwa y s great d uring the races. I think in th e 500, it will b e not so easy." Ro s si has s pen t h is en tire ca ree r with the italian team and bike, developing a fa ther /son rela tions hipo with h is crew ch ief Ro s s an o Bri z zi. Now h e faces the cha llenge of being in an Au stralian team, hav ing to e xp la in thin g s in English . . "This won 't be a pr oblem, " Rossi said. "I spoke with [Jeremy] Burgess and we understood each other. It will be difficult to have a relationsh ip like what I had wi th my old team, completely made up of Italians. This winter I will study Engli sh, so I will ha ve no problem . I tri ed for a lon g tim e to push my former technical director Ro s sano Bra zzi to ' move with me to H ond a , but Ro ssano has 49 yea rs a nd a lovely family in Im o la. H e wants to stay near his family, and he will stay with Aprilia." Rossi still has the body of a young ma n. In orde r to ride a powerfu l 500, he will have to develop his arms and legs. In other words, this off-season he w ill be forced to train - and train har d . "I have to inc rease m y p hysical cond ition, " Rossi ad mits. "When I went int o 250, I thou gh t the pr eparation wo uld be no t so important - but I had to change my ideas. In fact, I have so me people who help me wi th this. Now I have to work hard er." With his strong ties to Ap rilia, leaving the team was difficult for Rossi. "I ran five yea rs wi th them, one yea r in the European Championship and four in the World Championship," Rossi said. "If they would hav e had a competitive 500, I would stay with them. Havi ng to change, I think, to the Honda is the best." The most beautiful momen ts? Surely when I won the tw o World Cha m pionships, but not o nly that. I was happy when, at the beginning of 1998, they gave me the same bike of [Tetsuya ] Harad a and [Loris] Ca pirossi to begin in the 250 class. Rossi believes he kn ow s what to d o in th e 500cc class . "Changing class is no t a new situation for me and I am , more or less, in the same condition I was in the '97 winter when I left the 125 as World Champion to go in the 250," Rossi said . "At that time I wanted to make one yea r of exp eri ence to aim at the fina l win in the nex t season. It's the same program I have at this moment - to ma ke a good season in 2000, also win nin g so me races if it's possible, and to point to the World Champio nshi p in 2001. I know this time it wi ll be hard er because the 500 is the most difficult class. I do n't want to make the sa me erro r tha t I mad e in 1998 - that time I started in 250 thinking I was not able to wi n the title. At first I was tent ative, and instead , perh ap s, I should have thought that I could d o it. This time I will start more concentrated, and do my best from the first race. I want to win a pair of races, and if I wo n' t be able to do it, I will be very disappointed." There is a strong possibility that Rossi will get to test th e Hond a NS R500 fo r th e fi rs t t im e at the e nd of Nov ember during the Jer ez tests. Rossi , however, is under contract with Aprilia until December 31, but he plans to ask permission to ride the bike before . that. CN

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