Valentino Rossi

My hero is Valentino Rossi. He is a roadracing motorcycle driver with a fantastic career, including 7 World titles. 5 of them where in a row, but with two different teams. He was born feb. 16th 1979. He is still alive. Currently he is living in London, England, but was born and raised in Urbino, Italy. He started racing in the world championship as a 17 year old, and won his first world title the year after.

In the period from 2001 to 2005, he won 5 world titles in MotoGP. That is a motorcycle racing series with the best performing bikes in the world, pure racing bikes that can not be run on the streets. In his mind it is not about the bike, but the rider that makes the big difference. The team is very important for him. When he changed teams between the 2003 and 2004 season he brought his crew with him: mechanics, engineers and manager. This was very unusual and he was the first rider that did this. That shows how important his team are for him. The way he communicates with his team is also important for him. He has to know that they trust him in his opinions and meanings about the bike. He is the only guy riding it so his feelings about the bike are most important. He has to know that what he says will be done.

One thing that is really special for Valentino is how he won his 5 seasons in a row. Until 2003 he rode for Honda, a brand that was said to have the best team with the best bike. Many people said that was the reason for his big success, because the ream, the bike and all the resources he had. For the 2004 season he changed teams. He went to Yamaha, the team with the most problems and very bad results. He did this partly to show that it is not because the competition crushing Honda he rode and the good engineers he had. To everyone’s surprise he won his first race on the new bike. This in the team that got a 7th and 15th place total in the championship the year before. A team that was considered way behind in technology and parts for their bike. Valentino Rossi added new engineers and mechanics to Yamaha and together they developed a bike worthy to compete in this level of racing. He gave a lot of feedback to the people working on the bike, because he had a lot of experience with driving a bike that was the best and he knew how it was supposed to be. He lifted the team up. Valentino Rossi is a man who wants to complete something before he starts something new. When he was racing in the 250 cc class in the world championship in 1998 he came in 2nd place in his first year in this class. He got an offer to move up to the biggest class in the world championship after the -98 season. He turned this offer down because in his head he was not done with 250 cc. He had not yet won the world title. For that reason he stayed in the 250 cc class for one more year. Not surprisingly, he won the world title in 1999. He won 9 of 16 races and came on the podium in 12 of the 16 races. Then his goal in this class was reached so he moved up to 500 cc for the 2000 season. This shows that even if he has the chance to move forward with a 2nd position, he will not. He was determined to complete what he had started in that class. I think that this is remarkable because I think most people would move up one class if they had the opportunity to get a contract with one of the best teams in the class.

Valentino Rossi has inspired me in the whole way he deals with his racing. The importance of his team and how they are. The way they cooperate and talk to each other. He likes joking around and having fun with friends. It's important to him to not always be serious. A light setting is what fits him, just like me. He has inspired me to work hard for want I want to achieve. To not give up and to always look at the positive side of a case if something bad has happened.

Valentino Rossi is a man that has achieved a lot in his life already. Many people wonder how MotoGP would be without him. He loves competition and is a playmaker in the sport. Quote: “There was one Muhammed Ali, and there's only one Valentino Rossi.” This quote is from Kenny Roberts Sr. to the New York Times Play. This tells a little bit about how big he is in the sport, and that he is a living legend.