Valentino Rossi's Comeback

http://my.sportbikeclub.com/_Valetino-Ross...0601/46089.html

 

Valentino Rossi's Big Break

 

Anyone who remotely follows motorcycle racing or picks up a Cycle News, Roadracing World or Road Racer X magazine has heard of Valentino Rossi. For those who haven’t because motorcycle racing doesn’t interest them, just know that he is annually one of Forbes top 10 highest paid athletes in the world. He makes more than NASCAR’s Earnhardt Jr. and everyone in the NFL. In other words, he’s a pretty big deal.

 

The reason Rossi is such a big deal is because he has become the greatest motorcycle racer in the history of motorcycling. He’s been the dominant rider this decade, winning seven world titles from 2001 through 2009. He’s even switched teams and manufacturers and still won. He went from the dominant factory Honda team in 2003 to a floundering Yamaha factory team in 2004 and immediately turned that manufacturer around, winning the 2004 title. His talent and charisma has made him far and away the most popular motorcycle racer in the world. Valentino Rossi is bigger than the sport he participates in. Rossi is MotoGP and many fear that when he leaves the sport, so will a lot of its fan base and sponsorship dollars.

 

With that said, when Rossi crashed during practice at Mugello in June, 2010, and broke his leg, the top brass behind MotoGP must have had a near coronary. Rossi has never missed a race in his MotoGP career, and now it looked like he was to be out for the rest of the 2010 season.

 

See the crash on Youtube here.

 

Many people feared the worst – that Rossi’s break would cause permanent damage to his leg, that ticket sales for Rossi-less MotoGP events would plummet, as would TV ratings, fire would rain from the sky and the seas would boil! Fortunately none of that has come to fruition. Ticket sales and TV ratings have stayed consistent and as we’ve seen in the past five days, Rossi can still ride a motorcycle like nobody’s business.

 

On Wednesday, July 7th, just 32 days after breaking his tibia and fibula, Rossi was on a Yamaha R1 superbike turning laps at Misano to test his fitness. He did a total of 24 laps with times that were called “very respectable.” How respectable? His fastest lap was a scant three seconds off the pole time set for the World Superbike race ran there a few weeks prior, and that was done on a qualifying tire by a rider who regularly rides a superbike class motorcycle. Rossi doesn’t normally ride a superbike. His M1 MotoGP bike is nothing like an R1, and yet that doesn’t seem to matter. Neither does having a broken leg, apparently.

 

That not impressive enough for you? How about on Monday, July 12th, Rossi again did a few sessions on an R1 superbike at the track in Brno, Czech Republic, and turned a lap time of 1:59.1. To put that in perspective, a Yamaha factory superbike rider set the fastest lap in the World Superbike race the day before at a 1:59.2. True, conditions were better on Monday than Sunday for setting lap times (cooler on Monday), but still, remember what I said above – foreign bike, broken leg?

 

Superbikeplanet.com posted pictures of Rossi from the Misano R1 test ride. See them here. I’m waiting for them to post a picture of Rossi walking on water.

 

Physiotherapist Dean Miller has commented on Rossi’s condition and recent feat. He explained that Rossi being up, walking and riding a motorcycle a month later isn’t too out of the ordinary. Rossi does have a metal rod in his leg which bears the weight while his bones heal and there apparently was no knee damage during his crash, which is much tougher to heal. And while Rossi threw down a fast lap time on a superbike, he’s still not sure if he can race the next round in Germany, July 16-18, because doing one fast lap is one thing, but riding full race distance at that speed is another. The guy does have a shoulder issue, too.

 

So even if walking with a rod in your leg is normal and Rossi doesn’t race the next round in Germany, it does sound like he very well will ride at the Laguna Seca round in California July 23-25 – a track he’s won at before (well, actually Rossi’s won at pretty much all the tracks on the schedule before). And while Rossi is over 100 points out of first place, there are still 11 races left and stranger things have happened. Championship aside, look for Rossi to start winning races as he’s got nothing left to lose and with a four or five round hiatus, that’s only benefited him in the engine department (in MotoGP, riders are only allowed six engines for the entire year and by missing rounds, he now has more fresh engines left than his competitors).

 

Rossi never ceases to amaze us, regardless of what he does. The guy's already a living legend. If he wins his first race back, I'd think a Lazarus/return from the dead motif would make a good post race celebration. We'll see, but you know they're alreayd putting aside land for statues in his honor all over Italy.

 

He's a crazy guy, hope he wins!

I'm happy he's back...Although it looks like Lorenzos year for sure.

 

Next year will be interesting...Stoner to Honda, Rossi to Ducati, and Spies to the factory Yammie.

 

P.S> Did anyone see Lorenzos bike BLOW UP in qualifying today! Yikes!!!!

Rossi is superhuman. Have you guys ever seen the video of Rossi's heartrate monitor while going around Valencia? Guy did a record lap time and his heartrate never got above a leisurely walk in the park.

 

I haven't seen his crash though- anybody have a link?

 

 

 

Wow that was not good.

4th place and a nice battle with Stoner

 

nice race and a great Pedrosa

 

the championship is safe in Lorenzo's hands though

 

next year WC will be awesome with Rossi in Ducati, Lorenza on the M1 and Stoner-Pedrosa with Honda

 

 

p.s. Valentino is the best rider of our era, but not the maddest ! the craziest ever was this one

 

I knew about The Doc breaking his leg just 2 days back!

But good to hear his doing well... I have a like/dislike attitude towards V.Rossi though....

I've highsided twice and lowsided countless times. I will say this, I will take 50 lowsides for 1 highside.

 

Both times I got greedy with the throttle -the highside landed me in the hospital. Not once has a lowside put me in long term care.

 

knock on the wood.

I have never high sided, and I hope I never do. I have however low sided many times.