The superlatives came pouring out on the final full weekend in October when Valentino Rossi added to his legend by capturing a seventh premier class title and ninth overall. Now tied with fellow Italian Carlo Ubbiali, Rossi trails only the 15 of fellow legend Giacomo Agostini, but even Rossi is realistic enough to know he won't reach 15, not at a rate of one per season. But with 103 GP wins he could reach Ago's total of 122. Already he has more premier class wins-77 to 68-than Ago, who rode two classes a day, often on machinery that was untouchable.
Yet when you talk to Rossi, none of that matters. He is an engaging and eager speaker and a good listener. His English, though heavily accented, is constantly improving. For a time he only spoke in the present tense, but he has a keen grasp of idiomatic English, even if it doesn't come across in transcripts. His time is meted out in 15-minute increments and strictly adhered to. He meets with the media-Italian first then English-every day of a Grand Prix weekend. And it's rare that he refuses to answer a question. His life is an open book.
Before we got started, I was curious which he thought was crazier, the Isle of Man TT or Kenny Roberts riding the Yamaha TZ750 dirt tracker at the Indy Mile.
"Allora, about crazy, TT is more crazy," Rossi said of the circuit he visited for the first time this past June. Riding a stock Yamaha R1, Rossi followed 10-time TT winner Agostini for a lap of the Mountain Course. "But make a lap on the track, make me understand a lot of things. I understand why a lot of people become crazy for this race, risk also the life for that course, because it's fantastic. Go full throttle is too much crazy.
"But Kenny on the TZ is the only good memory from this year at Indianapolis," where Rossi crashed in pursuit of teammate Jorge Lorenzo, "especially because we don't expect. We expect Kenny to go slow. But he starts full throttle and I know that Kenny is a hero, but after that, more. Because if you think he is 50-something years old, (Roberts is actually 58) think of him when he was 25. That bike is impressive, but Kenny is impressive."
His t-shirt says "old hens...
His t-shirt says "old hens make good broth" in Italian, a humorous analogy to the Italian saying that while unable to lay eggs, old chickens make good soup.
If he could do one or the other, which would it be?
"The oval. The Isle of Man, it's not possible make any mistakes, is too risky. No way. So go like this we make a lap at 95 mph average with Ago, but more than this, f*@k!"
Rossi is still passionate about racing motorcycles, though he isn't shy when it comes to some of the decisions that are made. The most egregious, he believes, was the move to 800cc bikes with overpowering electronics. If Rossi was in charge of MotoGP, what would he change?
"So the first thing is try to make the race closer, like in the past," he said. This year the series has been dominated by four riders, though only Rossi and Lorenzo have been consistent, and even they've crashed an inordinate number of times. "To make the race closer we need less sophisticated bikes. Anyway, have to be prototypes, but more in the hand of the riders. Not more fast than this, maybe more slow. But more close to superbike, because the battle is always more fun and was the same until, also for MotoGP, until 2004-2005."
Rossi moved to Yamaha in 2004 after winning three championships for Honda (one on the NSR500 and two on the RC211V), and won the '04 title right out of the box. He then backed it up with the '05 crown. But Rossi believes the biggest difference was the move to Bridgestone spac tires in '08. "Bridgestone made a huge step, huge step. The tire now don't go down. At the end of the race you have a lot of grip and is possible stay on the side, a lot of edge grip, so is another way to ride."