RaceMoto Motorrad Blog

Ich muss die PR- bzw. Marketingabteilung von Yamaha erneut loben. Gut, streng genommen sind deren Aktionen nun auch keine revolutionäre Handlung, sie nehmen aber im Vergleich mit der Konkurrenz ganz sicher die Führungsrolle ein – ähnlich wie mit den WM Punkten der MotoGP Saison 2010

Aktuell hat Yamaha in einem neuen Bereich auf der Website die ersten Kolumnen von Valentino Rossi und Jorge Lorenzo veröffentlicht – und dies soll nun eine regelmäßige Institution werden.

It has been a while since we have heard from our Fiat Yamaha Team riders and with the 2010 MotoGP season about to start, you can read all about their off-season activities! You can find the columns in the ‘Rider Lounge’ section on the YR.com MotoGP channel, or click here

Zu finden ist das ganze unter http://www.yamaha-racing.com/Racing/motogp/rider_lounge/columns/.

Hier schonmal 2 kleine Extrakte aus den ersten Kolumnen von Valentino Rossi und Jorge Lorenzo:

Valentino Rossi:

This has been one of the longest winters I can remember, with so little MotoGP testing time, but it has been an enjoyable one for me because I have had time to try lots of different things and when we have tested the 2010 Yamaha YZR-M1 the results have been excellent.

(…)

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Warum haben die anderen Teams eigentlich nicht so coole Marketingabteilungen? Oder…warum hat eigentlich kaum eine Marke überhaupt so ein cooles Marketing?

Yamaha USA macht auf jeden Fall alles richtig bei der Präsentation der Yamaha Fahrer – und Colin Edwards macht mit Ben Spies eine sehr unterhaltsame “Männertour”

Link: www.youtube.com

Bisher hatte sich Jorge Lorenzo ja sehr bedeckt gehalten, wenn es um die neue Entwicklung innerhalb der Yamaha Box ging, nach der zwischen ihm und Valentino Rossi keine Daten mehr ausgetauscht werden sollen:

I don’t have anything to comment on this.

so war die bisher einzig vernehmbare Antwort.

Nun hat allerdings das twowheelsblog über einen Beitrag der spanischen AS.com berichtet, der das ganze etwas genauer darstellt – bzw. in dem Jorge Lorenzo weniger wortkarg geantwortet hat:

I have great respect for Valentino. He has an incredible talent and is an intelligent person. Last year I was close to beating him and with a step forward I can have the chance to succeed. I do not care what he says, I’m not interested in listening to that I copy his bike’s settings to win. I think about myself. In 2009, we compared data and there were races where we did well, in others both Valentino and I did worse.

Und weiter:

I don’t know why Yamaha made this choice, I believe that this will slow down development on the bike. However I’m not worried, I’m self sufficient.

Lustig die Schlussaussage, nach der Jorge “ein Diesel” sei:

I’m a bit of a diesel, I start slowly, and then build up for the to start the championship. Stoner and Valentino are now very fast, but there’s only a few tenths catch up on, I am not worried there’s 18 races and the championship is very long.

Man darf auf jeden Fall sehr gespannt sein, ob der Spanier schon weit genug ist, sich ohne den Blick zum erfahreneren Valentino Rossi um Setup und einen Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung kümmern zu können.

(via twowheelsblog.com)

Hier als Abschluß “der heutigen Reihe in Sachen Yamaha MotoGP Propaganga” noch das Interview mit Jorge Lorenzo:

Einmal als Video:

Link: www.youtube.com

Und in Textform:

Everyone expects that the rivalry between you and Valentino will be even stronger this year. How do you plan to manage it?

I think our rivalry is not personal, but just limited to the sport area. For me it is normal: we both want to win and we are in the same team. Last year we had a very polite and good relationship with the media and I expect this year to be the same again.

Who is your biggest rival this year and why?

I don’t know. Theoretically Valentino, Casey, Dani and me are the riders who are going to fight for the championship, but I am sure that it is possible that somebody else will be fighting with us for the championship. Is your aim this season to be world champion? Will you be satisfied with second place again? Yes, I would be satisfied with the second position. It is a very difficult position to get, especially now that I am riding with fantastic riders. Anyway, I want to win but I am not in a hurry to get the championship. I have to be patient.

You made a few mistakes last year, what have you learnt from them and how will you avoid making similar ones this year?

I think that last year’s problem was that all four riders were riding at their limit at every race and in that condition it is very difficult to finish the races. It is true that I made a few mistakes of strategy or concentration that I will try to avoid this year, but I am quite satisfied with my 2009 season. Your first season in MotoGP was spectacular but included a lot of injuries. After such an up-and-down first year, did you expect to be as strong as you were in your second? I hoped to be more regular and faster. Again this year I want to try to be better but you know, maybe I will not get it. And if you can’t be better, you may go down mentally, so I will try again and I will try to improve my performances.

How do you think you can improve this season? Are there any specific areas you want to focus on that will make you a stronger racer?

Yes, I really think that my starts are not the best. This winter I have been training very hard to improve this quality, because if you start well you avoid many problems…

Have you requested any developments for the M1 this year to tailor it more to your riding style?

You know, fortunately one of my best qualities is that I can adapt my riding style pretty easily, so for this reason I don’t think I have to tell many things to our engineers. I think Valentino has more experience and is a very good rider, so I have my hopes to him to develop the M1.

If you are faced with a replay of Barcelona 2009 this season, do you think you will know how to beat Valentino this time?

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Die PR Abteilung von Yamaha hat netterweise viel Material zum FIAT Yamaha MotoGP Team bereitgestellt – nach Team Manager Davide Brivio (Artikel, Video) hier nun das Interview mit “Il Dottore” Valentino Rossi:

Einmal als Video:

Link: www.youtube.com

Und in Textform:

What have you been doing during the off-season? How much training and how much holidaying?

If my time during winter was 100, let’s say 50/50 between holiday and training. I went to the mountains with my friends and I snowboarded with them, which is my favourite winter sport. My training during the winter break is very different than the standard one during the MotoGP season. Anyway, I have never stopped training, otherwise it would be very much difficult to start riding again this year.

How do you prepare for a new season? Is it more important to work on your fitness these days?

Training has become more and more important, because MotoGP bikes are more and more difficult to be ridden and you need power and resistance for the 45 minutes of the race. You also have to get to the new season start in the best possible shape. At the gym, my training is pretty normal, with weights, but I always try to ride motocross or supermotard bikes at the ‘cava’, in order to not lose the feeling with the throttle.

At the age of 31 (nearly) do you think you are still improving as a racer or do you think you have reached the peak of your talents?

On 16th February I will be 31. I will be a little older… I always try to be at the top of my shape, improving and trying to adapt to the new bike. You always need to adapt yourself to the new bike, to the new regulation. If you think you are at the top of your performance, it is a big problem! Every season has its own story, it is more and more difficult and you always have to be faster. I will try again, as usual.

Who do you think will be toughest to beat this season, Jorge, Casey or Dani, and why?

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In Ergänzung zum soeben geposteten Video-Interview hier noch einmal in leicht gestraffter Textform:

Year after year Valentino remains at the top of his sport, what do you think his secret is?

There is no secret, it is all about a hard job. He has a great talent, but he also spends a lot of time in preparation and training before the races and, during the weekend in the preparation of the bike and the setup. He has a great motivation in remaining at the top and that’s his power point.

Who do you think Valentino’s biggest threat is this year for the championship, and why?

I would put Stoner and Lorenzo at the same level because at the end of last season they were very strong. These four riders will be the main players for the championship. Other rookies could be a surprise, like Ben and Simoncelli. I think that for the championship we have to consider these three or four riders.

Valentino admits that there were times when he made mistakes last year. How do you plan to make sure that doesn’t happen again this year?

We made few mistakes in wet races, where we are not traditionally very strong. From 2009 we learnt that all competitors are very strong and very motivated and we have to consider them at the top level. Sometimes we will have to accept to finish behind them, if it is not possible to win. This is the biggest lesson we have learnt from last year.

Valentino will have the same team of mechanics once again this year, can you give us an insight into their working relationship and why you think it is so successful?

With some members of this team Valentino has been working for more than 10 years but now this is the 7th year in Yamaha. I think the chemistry that keeps the team strong is the motivation and the competitive spirit that the team has. The same motivation that Valentino has for remaining the number one is transferred to the staff and everybody involved in our group tries to be the best in his job. We always try to be faster even in the most common actions or operations in the weekend. Our continuous spirit and will to improve is our secret.

There will still be a wall in the garage this year. How much information about each rider’s set up is available to their team-mate, and how much is kept confidential?

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