autofreak
12-25-2008, 06:12 AM
The most successful elite class racer in history, the most popular and the richest too. What else can you say about an eight-time world champion like Valentino Rossi? Perhaps instead of attempting to gauge this titan ofthe track's place in history by widening our focus we should narrow our focus, just as far as it will go. Not merely to his 2008 season, arguably his greatest ever, not even to his Laguna Seca victory, arguably his greatest ever, but to the briefest of moments during one of last season's defeats. .
It is Sunday afternoon at the Australian grand prix. Seven days ago he wrapped up the title at Motegi in Japan. Rossi has just started from the fourth row of the grid after a purling accident during qualifying left him with
a cricked neck and a sore head (and quite probably a mild dose of concussion). He could be forgiven for taking things easy, but that isn't his way. He is soon moving forward, working his way through the pack in his own inimitable style, using his spellbinding ability to find room to ovettake where other riders can find none.
It is the start of the fourth lap and he is already in seventh place and ready to challenge Colin Edwards and Shinya Nakano for fifth. The three riders are rocketing down Phillip Island's high-speed start/ finish, Rossi's YZR-Mr reaching r99.2 miles an hour as he chases Nakano's slipstream. As they streak past the pits Rossi stabs to the right and sweeps out of Nakano's draft
to put himself in the best place to attack as he approaches the Island's daunting r20 miles an hour turn one right-hander.
At this-very moment Rossi decides that his front brake lever needs adjusting. The next few seconds are caught in glorious slow¬mo by a Dorna onboard camera that's focused on his left hand. As he moves alongside his two rivals his Mr is getting into a speed wobble, the handlebars swaying left and right as the motorcycle approaches takeoff speed and gets buffeted by the wake from Nakano's RCV Nonetheless, the brake needs adjusting, so Rossi raises his left hand from the handlebar and, ever so gently, takes hold of the knurled remote adjuster knob between his thumb and forefinger and winds it back half a turn or so. This little job is accomplished in a second, maybe a second and a half, then Rossi moves his hand back onto the handlebar, fingers the clutch lever as he downshifts a couple of gears and dives into the corner ahead
of Nakano and Edwards. He is now in fifth place, with only James Toseland, Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner ahead of him. By the end of the race only Stoner remains unbeaten.
171
Rossi adjusts his front brake most laps at Phillip Island where he only teally uses the brakes twice each lap, at the Honda and MG hairpins. As he attacks different sections of MotoGP's fastest circuit the brake fluid heats up and cools down, which affects brake lever position. Rossi needs the lever to be in exactly the right place, because he likes to keep it as close to the handlebar as possible, so he can get to it in a hurry. When the brake gets hot, the lever comes in too far and risks touching the throttle rubber, which wouldn't be good. Hence all the fiddling.
Interestingly, Rossi uses all four .fingers to brake, unlike many MotoGP riders who use only one or two fingers. His crew chief Jeremy Burgess believes this costs him a few milliseconds at every corner as he switches from braking to accelerating, because he can't segue instantly from stop to go like the rider who uses one finger on the brake and three on the throttle. 'But I'm not going to tell Valentino how to brake: says JB, rather wisely.
This fleeting Phillip Island moment on his way to one of his r6 podiums from 2008's r8 races gives us some measure of the man. To adjust your front brake t 199 miles and hour is pretty special, to do it at that speed while passing two rivals into one of the world's most challenging corners (which famously caught out Mick -B1'iohan in 1997) is quite simply breathtaking. It is not of this planer. When Rossi compliments rivals he likes to describe their riding as 'supernatural', so it only seems right that we should describe his talent as magical.
But of course it isn't magic. It is a matter of brain power rather than bedknobs and broomsticks. Rossi has his own personal super information highway hidden away inside his cranium. His brain works much faster than the brain of a normal human being, allowing him to multi-task at 200 miles an hour like no one else. JB explains it thus: 'Valentino's reflexes and motor neurons are quicker than those of the other guys'. That is the secret of the hundred million dollar brain.
It is Sunday afternoon at the Australian grand prix. Seven days ago he wrapped up the title at Motegi in Japan. Rossi has just started from the fourth row of the grid after a purling accident during qualifying left him with
a cricked neck and a sore head (and quite probably a mild dose of concussion). He could be forgiven for taking things easy, but that isn't his way. He is soon moving forward, working his way through the pack in his own inimitable style, using his spellbinding ability to find room to ovettake where other riders can find none.
It is the start of the fourth lap and he is already in seventh place and ready to challenge Colin Edwards and Shinya Nakano for fifth. The three riders are rocketing down Phillip Island's high-speed start/ finish, Rossi's YZR-Mr reaching r99.2 miles an hour as he chases Nakano's slipstream. As they streak past the pits Rossi stabs to the right and sweeps out of Nakano's draft
to put himself in the best place to attack as he approaches the Island's daunting r20 miles an hour turn one right-hander.
At this-very moment Rossi decides that his front brake lever needs adjusting. The next few seconds are caught in glorious slow¬mo by a Dorna onboard camera that's focused on his left hand. As he moves alongside his two rivals his Mr is getting into a speed wobble, the handlebars swaying left and right as the motorcycle approaches takeoff speed and gets buffeted by the wake from Nakano's RCV Nonetheless, the brake needs adjusting, so Rossi raises his left hand from the handlebar and, ever so gently, takes hold of the knurled remote adjuster knob between his thumb and forefinger and winds it back half a turn or so. This little job is accomplished in a second, maybe a second and a half, then Rossi moves his hand back onto the handlebar, fingers the clutch lever as he downshifts a couple of gears and dives into the corner ahead
of Nakano and Edwards. He is now in fifth place, with only James Toseland, Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner ahead of him. By the end of the race only Stoner remains unbeaten.
171
Rossi adjusts his front brake most laps at Phillip Island where he only teally uses the brakes twice each lap, at the Honda and MG hairpins. As he attacks different sections of MotoGP's fastest circuit the brake fluid heats up and cools down, which affects brake lever position. Rossi needs the lever to be in exactly the right place, because he likes to keep it as close to the handlebar as possible, so he can get to it in a hurry. When the brake gets hot, the lever comes in too far and risks touching the throttle rubber, which wouldn't be good. Hence all the fiddling.
Interestingly, Rossi uses all four .fingers to brake, unlike many MotoGP riders who use only one or two fingers. His crew chief Jeremy Burgess believes this costs him a few milliseconds at every corner as he switches from braking to accelerating, because he can't segue instantly from stop to go like the rider who uses one finger on the brake and three on the throttle. 'But I'm not going to tell Valentino how to brake: says JB, rather wisely.
This fleeting Phillip Island moment on his way to one of his r6 podiums from 2008's r8 races gives us some measure of the man. To adjust your front brake t 199 miles and hour is pretty special, to do it at that speed while passing two rivals into one of the world's most challenging corners (which famously caught out Mick -B1'iohan in 1997) is quite simply breathtaking. It is not of this planer. When Rossi compliments rivals he likes to describe their riding as 'supernatural', so it only seems right that we should describe his talent as magical.
But of course it isn't magic. It is a matter of brain power rather than bedknobs and broomsticks. Rossi has his own personal super information highway hidden away inside his cranium. His brain works much faster than the brain of a normal human being, allowing him to multi-task at 200 miles an hour like no one else. JB explains it thus: 'Valentino's reflexes and motor neurons are quicker than those of the other guys'. That is the secret of the hundred million dollar brain.