Cycle News

VOL. 53 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 26, 2016 P109 his career. This summary decision came out of the blue, and shocked everybody. To me, this was simply con- firmation of his deadly agenda. Rossi had taken no prisoners throughout his career. Behind the smile lay a deadly purpose. Yet it still seemed petulant, even desperate. A self-deceiving excuse for his own fading talent. Even setting the scene for last year's equally petulant outburst against Marquez. By last year, of course, any question of "fading talent" had been swept aside in a title- leading surge of strength and consistency, while his young rivals made mistakes, fell ill or fell off. Back to the story. Behind the scenes it was rumoured that there was method in Rossi's action, and of a particularly self-sacrificing kind. Burgess's contract still had a year to run, and Rossi knew that if he was to be sacked by the rider, the company would of course honor the contract, and pay for next year as well. This was at a time when Bur- gess's wife Claudine was suffer- ing from a serious cancer (from which she has since mercifully made a strong recovery). The Australian had already missed one race unexpectedly (the first in 40 years or more) in a mercy dash to his family. So the story goes: he needed to leave anyway. By pretending to sack him, Rossi was in fact doing him a huge favor—giving him a lucrative early release. A mercy move. Much more than that, he was prepared to stand up and look like the bad guy, by keeping the facts to himself. Only one thing to do. I called Burgess at home in Australia. To nobody's surprise, he laughed it off. Rossi's deci- sion had been unexpected, he insisted. Indeed, Rossi had apologized to him upon arrival at Valencia, because the news had leaked out to the Italian press before he had informed his old henchman. But the contract with Yamaha was already set in stone either way. But if it was true, I suggested, then it was a conspiracy be- tween the two. So we'd expect you to deny it anyway. More laughter, and a revela- tion: Yamaha, he said, was not only willing to pay him as agreed for not working for the year to come, but rather less willing to stump up for Valentino's chosen replacement. Silvano Galbus- era's first-year wage came out of Rossi's pockets. But there was no conspiracy, and Burgess—in any case past official Japanese retirement age of 60—was not even that surprised. "I was only there for as long as he needed me." He repeated what he'd said at the time: "I've read enough sporting biographies to know that sports- men often change their trainers at the end of their careers." (He didn't add, as he did back then, in reply to a leading question: "It hardly ever works.") So Rossi's ruthless reputation survives after all. It was no act of mercy, but a self-motivated gamble, that has paid off. Would anyone want him any different? Ruthless self-belief at the cost of all else is a common thread among great riders. My per- sonal list of scary egomaniacs includes almost all of the cham- pions of the past 30 years or more. The list of champions who were also well-rounded person- alities much shorter. Maybe only Wayne Rainey. All of them are risking their lives. Why would anything else matter? More than riding talent, this is what makes them such interest- ing people. The same is true of top sportsmen in any field. Nothing is more important than success. Rossi, the laughing cavalier of many victories, conceals his streak behind a polished mask of charm. But charm is one thing. Cham- pionships quite another. CN

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