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Posted by sturd on July 2, 2009, 4:38 pm
Stolen from an email list, not sure it's even legit but it sounds like
it.
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"My twelve best races
Hello everyone. Today I have one hundred motives to be happy. Even 100
more motives to be happy. I remember every on of them, I remember the
podiums, the celebrations. I remember all. I am a lucky devil because
I can say that the happiest days of my live have been at least 100.
The race in Assen is not one of those races that maybe in 10 year will
be pretty to recount, since the emotion provided to us was not
comparable to the one in Barcelona two weeks ago, but it is the 100,
the race of the round number, a perfect occasion to bring back the
memory of the 99 victories before that
A hundred=85 it is a lot. All beautiful. I don't remember an ugly
victory, just like there is no beautiful defeat. A hundred is so many
that there wasn't a journalist who hasn't asked me to pick some, maybe
because they don't have enough space in the papers to remember them
all.
This is why I have decided to chose my personal classification of the
top 12 races. I would have liked to do 10 but in the end I haven't
done that. They aren't necessarily the most beautiful but surely are
those that have marked a stage in my career. I am giving you the list
with the hope that you have seen them. If you haven't done so and feel
like killing time with me go look for them and I assure you that we
will have a great time together.
Since I have to start at some point I will start where it all began:
Brno 1996, my first triumph in the 125s. The first dream of a live
that was realised. A lad of 17 years, bred on bread and engines, that
happened from Tavullia to the highest step of the podium. The emotions
of this podium? The same as the following 99 times. Because there is
nothing in the world that I like more than a victory, whether it be
the first, the 50th or the 100th; if I am 17, 25 or 30 years old.
From 96 we go to 2000, to Donington, to be more exact. My first major
race, because it was the first race that I won in the 500s. I haven't
been to university but I think that this is comparable to a degree
with cum laude in an exam after spending a mountain of time with the
books. Another dream has been realised. However the World Championship
of the 500s remained a dream in this year but I have started to have
the certainty that sooner or later it would be mine. And I wasn't
mistaken.
Indeed the following year things were better and that year on top of
the race in which I won the Championship of which I will speak in a
moment, I remember with big emotions the race of Brno 2001, the one I
fought with Max Biaggi. What a race! I define it as the tensest. It
was the first race after the summer break and Biaggi was behind me in
the classification, only 10 points away from me. Brno was his circuit
and I remember a crazy duel that nevertheless didn't last till the end
because Biaggi crashed. A wrist and head race. Beautiful.
In 2001 I won the Championship in Phillip Island. The last
Championship with the 500s two strokes, the bike of the biggest in the
history of motorcycling. The bike I have loved the most because it was
the bike of the hard ones. I won the Championship winning the race in
the way I prefer it. I would say that it was the race of the
consecration. If Brno was the exam passed with a degree, Phillip
Island was a graduation with all the honours. The Championship of the
500s=85 I could finally say that I was part of the motorcycle Olympus.
And we know that this has not yet finished.
Phillip Island in 2003, the strangest one. They gave me 10 seconds of
penalty for overtaking during yellow flag and the guys from my box
didn't hesitate long in telling me this was not the habit in MotoGP.
From one lap to the other I was in the lead but on the pit board my
guys wrote a 10 second advantage to the next rider who was Capirossi
and wrote down P2, second position. Thank heavens that my team and I
can do telepathy. You know that I had to race like maniac and that I
won the race with 13 seconds lead to Loris. It is not easy to race
like a maniac when there is no one ahead of you. Another gold page for
my diary.
Welkom 2004. Can I leave it at that or do I have to tell about it? It
was my first race with Yamaha and my first victory with the M1. A much
unexpected victory we had wished for with all our might. Probably the
Race with a capital R. A master piece, the highest expression of team
work, of factory effort and of a group of guys to realise an
impossible dream. That race is full of images in my memory, with the
bike parked next to me, alone, with me=85 I still feel the chills.
Now I take you to my home, to Mugello in 2006. That was without a
doubt the most interesting race, with thousands of overtakings between
Capirossi and I in front of thousands of followers. It was a race that
was resolved in the last lap and for me is one of the most diverting
of my whole career.
China 2008. The return. This was a race that probably doesn't mean
much, at least not to many of you. To me however it says a lot. It was
the first race that I won on the Bridgestone tires, after two years,
2006 and 2007 in which this race didn't show in my diary=85 The emotions
of this race can be summed up by the SMS that Graziano, my dad send me
on Sunday night. It said: "Let's start again=85" More chills.
I am on my way to Laguna Seca and in this moment I cannot forget the
race in 2008. I think that this was the most decisive race in all my
life. I had the necessity, the obligation to stop Stoner's race. The
track wasn't one that adapt to my riding, above all because I have
never had a great relationship with Laguna Seca but it ended as one of
the most unforgettable races of history, a race on the edge of the
knife. And that overtaking in the Corkscrew=85 Even though more
hallucinating was the one I did on the outside on turn 3=85 Yes, I'd
definitely say it was the most decisive race of all.
Barcelona 2009 was maybe the most fantastic race. In the sense that in
my fantasies I invent an overtaking like this, in the last turn. But
of Barcelona I have already told you a couple of weeks ago, but I
can't leave it out of this classification.
And finally, Assen 2009. Number 100. The race that has turned me into
the second rider in history, after Giacomo Agostini, in reaching an
object this big and important. I am happy. And I am happy to have
given my fans some diversion during at least 100 races. I am happy
because I still race and I hope to race for a long time.
And know that from now on I will do all that is possible to make you
happier.
See you soon
Rossifumi 46"
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Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.
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