Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I 2005 season round-one dust-up with 5ete Gibemau in Spain showed (as did his astonishing winning form thereafter) that for Rossi, there are clearly still some new worlds left to conquer. To help him in his quest, Rossi has basically instigated, by design, evolution or accident, a Praetorian Guard that extends from the physical to the psychological, from the technological to the financial, from Italy to Australia and back, via two layovers in Japan. Such are the demands on his time that access is filtered through what seems to be his very own sports management company, Great White London - one of the cornerstones of Rossi's Empire of the sun and ent character with dissimilar roles. That's why some of them have followed him from Aprilia, through Honda and Yamaha; from Italian Nationals to MotoGP; from the world's biggest motorcycle manufacturer to one that hadn't won the title since 1992. There are a lot of people on Rossi's Side, but the biggest keys on the bunch, according to Rossi himself, are his manager, moon. Rossi knows what the game is and so always comes across very well, even when interview time is necessarily limited. Thus, his sharp mind can get out the required information with a practiced breVity, exactness and patience. Plus, there is a frequent smile and no end of easy charm, even if he would plainly rather be somewhere else than sitting in front of another journalist. Or, in other words, he lives up to the hype - the hype from his own camp, offtrack as well as on. We asked him about his own personal posse of partners and protectors, and on the face of it, Rossi's key people make strange bedfellows, as each is a very differ- What ROSSi san About lIS Praetolian GU" We must all have heard of Rossi's bunch of buddies - the intriguingly titled "Tribu de Chihuahuah" - in his small hillside hometown of Tavullia, but for his most trusted Praetorian Guard in MotoGp, there is no special name. There are many more elements to Rossi's entire partner and support mechanism than these, but in the words of the man himself, they are the following: Name: Uclo Soluccl Function: Longtime friend, helper and moveable home comfort from Tavullia Vale Says: "First of all he is my best friend from one life - first of all it is this. The main help he gives for me is to drive the motor home around Europe. But he comes to all the GPs, and it helps me not to be alone going around the world. Also, he works for me by cleaning the leathers and so on. He is my helper - my right arm." \ , "'""- 16 l' U A\~WOOO ~ORRl. tA\KE Rossi matched Mike Hailwood's win record (76) at the Sochsensring In Germany. Gibo Badioli; his team manager, Davide Brivio; his crew chief, Jerry Burgess; and his best friend, Ucio Salucci. Vale and his people are quick to point out that everyone else matters as well, but as Valentino himself has said: "For me, all of these people are very, very important, because if I did not have them, it would not have been the same, for sure. It was important for me when I made the change [to Yamaha] that we did not change too much." In fact, it's difficult to imagine that Rossi would ever have made the career changes he has if he had not had these key elements in place. The bulk of his inner and outer circle is made up of Italians, some with links to his very beginnings in racing. It's no accident that Brivio was a central figure in transporting Rossi from the easy pickings with Honda to more of a challenge on a completely different bike. "To have Italian people around is always very good. Very good for an Italian, so very good for me," Rossi says. Italian and proud of it (despite his partial ex-patriot status in the anonymity of London to escape the clamour of his own country), he is nonetheless pragmatic when it comes to some key areas. "The Italians have some good parts and some bad parts also," he states. '~most all my mechanics are Aust'ralian, for example, and I am very happy they are Australian. They are always quiet, very calm. lf it's good, they are very quiet. lf it's very bad ... then it is very quiet anyway. So it's better than an all-Italian team." All riders have people they trust and feel comfortable around in their garages, but for Rossi, nothing short of an A-list movie star, they appear to playa more vital role far more often than any other rider eN can imagine. Name: G/bo Bodloli Function: Personal manager Vale Says: "He is my manager, and he works on the contracts, for decision about requests of my time, with who to make an interview with or not." Name: Dov/de Brlvlo Function: Team manager Vale Says: "Davide is a friend from before my relationship with Yamaha. I knew him from 1995, when he had a Superbike team in the Italian Championship. We were good friends even when he worked with [Max] Biaggi and I raced with Honda He was the Yamaha side, when we spoke about the contracts, and he is in charge of all the organization, team staff, the truck - all things." Name: Jeremy Burgess Function: Crew chief Vale Says: "He is not only my chief mechanic, he is the most important person on all technical points of the motorcycle. We are together for flYe years, and he is not only my chief mechanic, he also teaches me how to set the bike, to modify my style on the bike, the way to understand the situation during practice. Ispeak with a lot of people about this, but every time Iget on the bike, I speak with Jeremy, and every time Iget off the bike, Ialso speak with him." CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 47

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