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“Valentino Rossi: The Autobiography”
By Valentino Rossi
With Enrico Borghi
Book Review by Gregg Leary
Category:Moto Racing -> Moto GP
Valentino Rossi’s autobiography SHOULD have been titled, “It’s Not About the Bike,” but that was already taken by Lance Armstrong. Valentino settled for “What if I had never tried it.”
Rossi’s book begins with a remarkable coincidence down under. Rossi tells how he passed Max Biaggi “on a stretch of asphalt spread like butter over a shallow, green hill” to win the 2001 Australian Grand Prix and the 500cc World Championship in 2001. Then… “Three years later, Sete Gibernau and I found ourselves in the exact same spot on the same track. Gibernau came into the turn too fast, while I had exactly the right speed. I passed him…and that is how I won the 2004 Australian Grand Prix. I won with the Yamaha. I beat the Honda. And I retained my MotoGP World Title.”
Winning the 2004 MotoGP World Championship on a Yamaha has to go down as one of the greatest upsets in motorcycling history. Rossi rode the underdog Yamaha against his formidable former team… Honda… to the top of the MotoGP world. It’s NOT about the bike…it’s about the rider. Rossi may be the greatest ever. In “Valentino Rossi: What if I had never tried it,” he shares his remarkable story.
“I had left Honda (at the end of 2003) and gone to Yamaha, in search of new challenges. I was determined to prove that I could win even without a bike, the Honda, which everyone thought was invincible. I knew that if I could win right away, with a Yamaha, in my first season, it would change the face of motorcycling for ever.”
In Welkom, South Africa Rossi did just that! “I won my very first race with Yamaha.” Many thought that after the race Valentino was overcome with emotion when he sat down beside his winning bike. Perhaps he was crying? “Behind my black visor, I was laughing…at the incredible feeling of pride, relief and happiness which had overcome me. I had proved what I had set out to prove: the importance of man over machine.”
Hyperbole? Perhaps. However, Rossi writes, “A great racing department, like Honda’s, (felt they) could create and develop an exceptional bike even without input from the rider. Well, from that moment on, this was no longer true. That day it became clear to everyone just how important human input and sensitivity are to the development of a racing bike, to its tuning, to its performance in a race.”
The saga of how Rossi made the decision to move from Honda to Yamaha encompasses the first half of the book. We gain much insight into “the first rider to win a world title in each class: 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP.” One of the secret meetings with Yamaha seemed to be from an Austin Powers movie rather than a James Bond flick. Rossi had decided on a clandestine powwow at night in a hospitality tent at the track in Brno. The surreal nature of the greatest rider in the world hiding under a table with Yamaha executives after being surprised by a security guard’s scooter makes for great reading.
Valentino writes with nearly as much flair as he rides. He is a free spirit whose sense of humor and love of life is a joy to behold. His book tells us much about Valentino Rossi.
Why he was named Valentino.
Why he chose the number 46.
Why he switched from racing go karts to riding motorcycles.
Who said, “Do you really think that if you keep going around with your silly motorcycles one day you’re going to make a living off of them?”
Why his helmet had a sun and moon painted on it.
When his feud with Max Biaggi began. (“We detest each other cordially.”)
Who “Guido” is.
What was the “Claudia Schiffer” inflatable doll all about?
Why did he stop at a Portaloo on his victory lap at Jerez? (“I stepped inside. For an instant, silence descended on the track, as if God had pressed the cosmic mute button.”)
Who or what was “Osvaldo the Chicken?”
The significance of his turtle tattoo.
“No more Mr. Nice Guy.”
Why Valentino changed his hair color almost as often as Dennis Rodman.
Why Rossi showed up at a Honda test with “an ill-fitting suit which belonged to someone else and no helmet.”
How it felt testing a Ferrari Formula One car.
“Valentino Rossi: The Autobiography” contains two full color photo galleries as well as a career summary with year-by-year racing stats. It is just what “The Doctor” ordered and rates four out of five lug nuts. Bravo!