Yes, I know the grammar is incorrect, but that’s the way the quote goes so that’s the way it stays.
When Valentino Rossi announced at the end of 2003 that he was joining Yamaha for 2004 many were surprised. Max Biaggi had struggled to make any headway on the unfriendly machine and many saw it as a huge gamble on Rossi’s part. But most completely underestimated Rossi’s massive ego and competitiveness. You see, all the way through 2003, Biaggi had complained loud and long to anyone who would listen (and even those who didn’t want to) that he was as good a rider as Rossi but it was the weakness of the bike that was stopping him from beating him. “Give me a bike that is as good as Rossi’s and I’ll show you.” was what he was saying in essence. So, primarily to shut Biaggi up, Rossi decided that he’d take on Biaggi’s bike and prove to everyone that it wasn’t the bike that was the problem, it was Biaggi.
The enormous risk involved in this move was obvious to all concerned and many believed that even the great Rossi had over-reached himself this time, all in the name of proving a point.
Of course, history tells us that Rossi won first time out on the M1 and effectively shut Biaggi down with one fell swoop. And, history tells us also that this was because of the supreme skill of the rider and the engineering genius of Rossi’s guru, Australian tech-head, Jeremy Burgess.
In fact, this simply isn’t true, but it made great copy and the journos lapped it up and so it has gone into Grand Prix folklore that the Rossi/Burgess combination has the magic touch and that everything they touch turns to gold.
Fact is, that, before Burgess and Rossi had even had a chance to LOOK at the M1 at the first test in January, the bike had undergone a complete overhaul in testing in Japan BY THE FACTORY ENGINEERS and was substantially a brand new bike that was almost race-ready before Vale ever swung a leg over it. However, as the muttering rotters say, never let the truth get in the way of a good story and we were led to believe that Burgess and Rossi took the recalcitrant M1 in hand in pre-season testing, sorted it out and made it into a race winner, first time out. Can I underline it again. IT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
Fast forward to 2009. Rossi, stung into severe annoyance by being beaten by an upstart Aussie on an Italian bike and then having his colours lowered by his team mate, decides that, having done it once, he can do it again and jumps ship, with Burgess, to Ducati. Defying all the statistics that showed that there was only one rider who could master the beast that was the Ducati MotoGp bike, and obviously having come to believe the folklore from 2004, Rossi’s huge ego got in the way of his good judgement again. Again? Well, yes. Remember that, the switch to Yamaha could just as easily have gone horribly wrong had the factory engineers not done their job as well as they did.
But this time there would be no rags-to-riches ending. All the warning signs were there. The Ducati had ruined the confidence of Hayden, Capirossi and Melandri, but Rossi’s self-belief towered above this consideration. Ducati Corse came out in print and said, “We will not build another Yamaha just to satisfy Valentino Rossi.” Only Stoner could tame the beast, but Rossi had to believe that he was still the best and that, together with Burgess, they could prove again, like the James Bond theme song said, “Nobody does it better.”
They didn’t. Rossi’s tenure at Ducati will be remembered as two years of hell. Despite the fact that Ducati actually DID build a Yamaha to suit Rossi, he still totally failed to come to grips with the bike. It wasn’t the bike that was the problem, though even Stoner admitted that it was a damnably difficult thing to understand. The problem wasn’t going to be solved by engineering. The problem was in between Rossi’s ears. I bet that, if you were to ask him right now, he would lay the blame on the bike, it’s so easy to do that (just like Biaggi had done those years before). But it wasn’t. It was the fact that Rossi experienced failure in the cold glare of world-wide publicity for the first time in his career and he didn’t know how to handle it. Look at the video of Melandri while he was at Corse and then look at similar shots of Vale. The facial expressions are the same, shattered self-belief.
Vale hoped to possibly end his career at Ducati, every Italian rider’s ambition. An Italian champion on an Italian bike. Instead, the dream team became a two-year long nightmare.
How will Rossi go back at Yamaha? Testing times are encouraging but it will take some time before we can truly assess just what damage has been done to the fragile psyche of the greatest of all time. His team-mate is now two years older, will not be intimidated by Rossi’s mind games and has shown himself to be the best of the best, a ruthless and toughened campaigner and many believe that Rossi will struggle for ascendency in a team built around Lorenzo and focussed on ensuring that he has the best chance possibly to defend his world title against stiff opposition. 2013 will be Rossi’s toughest assignment yet. He has gotten what he wished for, time will tell if what he gets is what he wanted.