I’ve got it!

I was looking at MotoGP “Circuit Action Shots” from last Sunday and I spotted the missing “bollo ed assicurazione” (registration and insurance tags) on Valentino M1. Every year since he started racing in 250cc he counterfeits documents that resemble those normally displayed on vehicles to circulate on the Italian roads. Valentino neatly reports on the registration card: brand, year, engine size, horse power and total amount to pay to the Italian DMV. The insurance tag instead reads the name of a fake insurance company named after his racing chief engineer, the Jeremy Burgess Assicurazioni Aldgate (different from the Rossano Brazzi Assicurazioni used when he was in 250cc) and the time during which the policy is in effect (the duration of the championship + 15dd as an extension).

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We got a taste of ...

what a MotoGP without Valentino Rossi could be. Last Sunday, he crashed at the first turn after being hit by the Spaniard Toni Elias, ex 250cc rider at his first race with the big boys. Valentino jumped back on his bike after waving his fist, but his race was already compromised. Anyhow, everybody knows the final result. My question is if anyone had fun watching it. Personally I got bored and because of the commercials I ended up watching more the Food Channel than the race. The dissatisfaction is not for the race itself, but about the way it was presented to us, TV viewers. Most of the attention went to Loris Capirossi, undisputed leader and winner, along with Daniel Pedrosa, author of a series of consistent fast laps. The rest of the riders were only accidentally focused by the cameras. We totally missed Valentino's race without a foot-rest peg trying to catch a couple of points for the championship. They kept showing his hand pulling a broken brake lever. And what to say about Elias? After his bad start he was able to climb back to the front of the group finishing 4th but no images of him dicing with the other valuable riders where showed to us. The final blow to my TV experience was caused by the press news after the race. Capirossi was very happy but still very professional if not "corporate" in thanking his Ducati team and Bridgestone. On the other end, Pedrosa really scared me: I thought he was just a timid person but I was wrong. After winning 3 consecutive world championships in the 125cc and 250cc, and finishing on the podium on his first race in MotoGp, he was not able to crack a smile for us to ignite a minimum of passion in our hearts. He will take Valentino's place in dominating the top class but the show, or better, our fun is going to be over. Even Nicky Haiden was a disaster. He was not relaxed during the race (AMA inefficient braking style) and even after finishing third he was not able to enjoy his podium. In front the press he was sad, serious and overall negative.

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That uncomfortable position ….

After winning 7 championships, Valentino is in the uncomfortable position to win no matter what it takes. For someone like him, nothing less is accepted. He doesn’t have any excuseto use given his skills, and a bike that is like his daughter (crashnet news). Yes in the last few months, his new M1 has been affected by some chattering, but what would happen if next Sunday Rossi does not win in Jerez, Pedrosa’s home, and more of this results will follow in the season?
The speculation would be that his mind is elsewhere, most likely in F1, in a future not planned yet and so very disturbing, especially for someone that decided to become a professional motorbike racer very early in his life. At that point all the timid voices that have been discounting his performance by crediting him with better bikes and tires would become stronger and more arrogant. The champion would be under a terrible psychological situation that compounding different objective problems would determine the beginning of the end.
Well, the # 8 in the Tarot Cards is called Strenght and should be interpreted as discipline and control. These are the conditions to win a battle that is mainly internal rather than external. It's just pure coincidence that this year, Valentino's biggest "?" is Valentino himself and a lot of mental strenght is required to win his 8th championship.

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Formula 1 has a new Biaggi waiting for Valentino: Alonso.

This is what the marketing people in Ferrari were probably dreaming when they thought to import “The Doctor” in F1. He can definitely bring to F1 a lot of Moto GP lovers, but for how long can they resist to the boredom of F1? Valentino himself, in Valencia didn’t look perfectly at home with that serious crowd. How can he bring his “show” to F1 if there is nobody with whom to escalate the competition at personal level? In other words, Valentino has won 7 championships but would he have been so famous without Biaggi? Biaggi: F1 needs a Biaggi and by coincidence or special intent we've found one. His real name is Alonso.
In Valencia while everybody was surprised with Valentino’s performance, he discounted it by saying “"He might finish fifth or even get on the podium some time but I could do the same on the bikes if I was given enough time to practice” during a news conference.
Today, after almost a month, we read that Valentino has challenged Alonso in a duel that involves a F1 Car, a World Rally car and a Moto GP bike.
Biaggi has already tried to create the media opportunity when he offered to teach Valentino how to drive a F1 car without spinning in, but unfortunately the Italian rider is not in the position to stir the air. So it comes Alonso and his casual (or not) comment. Does anybody remember the situation in GP 500 when we had Mick Doohan close to retire, Biaggi hoping to be new king in that class and Valentino that was thinking to move up to 500cc from 250cc? Well everybody knows the story; I just wish Alonso not to end up like Biaggi in his career.

It must be the worst nightmare!

It must be the worst nightmare for any rider at the race track. I am thinking at the chattering problem. It’s has been since the end of January that Valentino Rossi has been complaining about it. Yesterday, after almost 2 months, Motogp news reports that our motorbike hero is still suffering with the same technical issue. Now, if two world champions, along with Michelin, Yamaha, Jeremy Burgess and his crew were not able to find a quick solution to the issue, I can not even imagine the pain that a simple private racer could suffer if challenged by such a nightmare. I have tried to explore internet to see what kind of solutions would be available on line for an internet geek, but I came to the conclusion that after a few serious attempts, it would be more efficient just to buy a new bike and start over from scratch.

Who's that guy?

Nice jump, but not big deal with whatever we see at the Xgames. But, what about if I tell you that the guy Sal Benanti, is 69 years old. I am going to type it again to eliminate any doubt, 69 years old. He started riding at 47 and he has on his belt 22 racing seasons filled with victories, tons of podiums and immense satisfaction. He has definitely achieved the best result of his career later in life than his typical competitor. What’s his secret? You would expect some sort of special diet, magic pills or strenuous workout. Wrong! Sal is a witty person who doesn’t like to hang out with complainers (most of people of his age) and negative people. He is not afraid to try and he does not fear failure because even that it’s part of the game. He would tell you to live your present and not to worry about the future: deal with that when it comes.
So whatever it is your age start the engine and just …do it.

Take a break and think about it.

How many times have we heard this suggestion at the racetrack? If you crashed or you have almost crashed it’s always a good idea to take a break before jumping again on the bike. At club events so many times we have seen riders crashing more than ones in a few hours window. Maybe they were too aggressive, maybe the tires where getting slippery, …it does not matter. Whatever it's the reason, they have failed in managing the conditions. At this point it’s time to relax and learn the lesson.
We do not know exactly what happened with Valentino Rossi this afternoon, but after suffering a harmless crash that brought out the red flags he decided to call it a day.

Late for work? No problem.

Showing up late at work on consistent basis, disregarding policies, time sheets or time cards it’s legal ground for any employee to be fired. Unless your name is Valentino and you eclipse anybody else in the firm with your “productivity”.
According to Motogp, today Valentino Rossi started riding around 12:40 pm and it took him only 6 laps to be faster than his peers who had been riding since the beginning of the morning session.

Less weight …more corner speed

The weight of your motorbike it’s going to affect not only acceleration and top speed but also where and how to brake. This means that when changing one bike with another one, most likely we will have to re-adjust our style. And this is what happened to the 2 times WSBK champion Colin Edwards as reported by crash.net.
With a lighter motorbike we will be able to brake harder, deeper and carry more speed into the turn.

California Superbike School in Dubai

Do you want to experience a really hot track? According to strategiy.com, regardless of your skills you can join the California Superbike School, based in UK, and fly to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, to ride the famous track. With so much attention on the port deal I could not pass to notice the coincidence