Valentino Rossi had his first interview in 2019 thanks to Italian network Radio Deejay. Little time before, the Italian legend had a photoshooting session with 2019 Yamaha M1, whose livery will be revealed on 4th February just before IRTA Sepang Test (scheduled from 6th to 8th February). Valentino has restarted training after some relaxing weeks with his girlfriend Francesca Sofia Novello. However, the time for marriage and children hasn’t come yet: “Children? My grandma Denise wanted me to become father as soon as possible, but she died some time ago and now I am in no rush…My mum has already understood that I’m not thinking of it, so she hopes that her grandchildren will come from the marriage of Luca (Marini, ed)”.
After some holiday time, Rossi has gone back to motocross training: “The road is still too cold, so I’m training on motocross. I spent some days at the seaside (in Jamaica, ed), then I was in Madonna di Campiglio with some friends of mine and this week we’ve restarted training together”. Rossi will turn 40 in mid-February, but he has no worry about it: “Twenty or thirty years ago there were many old riders, since they usually began racing very late in their life, but now the career of a rider starts much earlier. I had always dreamed of reaching World Championship, but I didn’t expect to be still there with 39 years of age“. Being a MotoGP veteran has pros and cons: “Experience is useful in terms of track knowledge and race preparation. However, young riders are braver and have less fear of crashing and when they fall, they recover faster… Everyone has fear, but it’s very important how you cope with it. Sometimes you’re more relaxed and sometimes you’re more afraid. When you get older, you’re less willing to risk. The bravest riders I’ve ever seen are the Japanese and Malaysian ones, while British riders are the best on the wet track“.
Soon, Rossi will face once again Marc Márquez and the Italian knows how difficult it is to defeat the Spaniard. “Márquez always takes so many risks, he seems to have no fear…Anyway, we riders all check what our opponents do, including what they eat and drink and how the train. Instagram is very useful in this…“. This year Valentino Rossi will have two more strong opponents in Franco Morbidelli and Francesco Bagnaia, raisen by The Doctor’s Academy: “They currently are the strongest VR46 riders, we’ve been working very hard to raise them at best. Morbidelli will have Ramón Forcada as his crew chief, and the fact Ramón used to work with Viñales and Lorenzo has given him great knowledge about Yamaha M1“. Of course, Rossi keeps an eye on his lil brother Luca Marini, whose step to MotoGP may happen already in 2020: “Luca Marini had a very strong 2018 campaign, as he scored many podiums, a couple of pole positions and a wonderful victory in Malaysia. I confess I cried, when Marini won… The relationship between me and Luca is great and I love to help him“. No chance to make predictions about 2019 season: “I was very strong last year and if Yamaha improves, I’ll be even stronger“.
Translated by Alessandro Palma