Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 P75 As the results down to sixth place and Petrucci indicate, it was just one of those days, as in the three different 'races' there could have been three differ- ent outcomes, had weather and track conditions stayed con- stant. The victor could have been Rossi's teammate, and champi- onship rival, Jorge Lorenzo, who was looking set to win from the front until the rains came along, pulling him into a fight with the Briefly... dissimilar," said Crutchlow. "If you took Marc Marquez and put him on my bike overnight, he is not going to finish where I am finishing, I think he will be finishing a bit further up. Maybe he would not be in the same position he is in, but he would not be far away, I don't think. Same with Dani [Pedrosa]. But they have the choice. I can say to them I want this or this, but I can't really have it unless I'm given it. Whereas they are in the position of chopping and changing whatever they have. That is alright, it means we can concentrate on our package." Danilo Petrucci was the center of much attention at Misano, as an Ital- ian rider who had earned a podium for the first time ever in the wet at Sil- verstone last time out. He had little time to enjoy his newfound status, however. "I had not so much time for celebrating because I did—I do not know how many—interviews and I lived all of last week on the phone. Now I want to do a good race in the ROSSI'S HOUSE The seas of Valentino Rossi fans were out in force even on Friday, as the prodigal son re- turned, and this time at the head of the championship points table, doubling the Rossimania affecting the Adriatic coast. This made the weekend an extra special one for Rossi, and all the more so when the race became an official sell-out for Sunday, with all 92,000 tickets sold. It was obviously true, as the organizers asked the media outlets to tell the public about it, to stop people making what would be a wasted journey. The Riviera was so busy that fans and Grand Prix paddock workers alike had to wait in long lines to get into restaurants all down the coast, hotel rooms quadrupled in price for a single night on Saturday and the huge lines to get in, and particularly to leave, caused travel chaos for many. As an event, the Misano Mo- toGP weekend was a smash hit. For Rossi himself? Misano was clearly the special one, for the special one. "Misano is very, very close to Tavullia and I grew up on this track when I was only a baby," said homeboy Rossi. "I came to see Graziano, with the cars, because when he was racing motorcycles I could not remember because I was too young. After that, the first time that I rode a real motorcycle inside a racetrack was here, inside Misano, so it is a special place." Rossi was aware that his rejuve- nation to potential champion and his race win here last year, has only made the situation for him off track all the more intense. For a rider so used to a huge amount of attention, he knew that this weekend would be a step-up. "It looks like we expect a lot of people and I arrive at a very good moment in the season, at the top of the rankings. This also gives us good expectation. I think it will be a difficult weekend for sure, more than usual, because there are a lot of friends and family here to see me. So I have to go in the right way to stay concentrated to the important thing, which is a good job on the track. Last year was a very important race and victory for me, because it was my first race after a long time." There was no shortage of yellow at Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli." continued on next page

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