On the occasion of Yamaha's 65th anniversary, let's look back at six riders, who, in six different decades, made the tuning fork brand shine. The essential Valentino Rossi is the one who brought the firm back to life in the 2000s.
He gets the crowds moving. One way or the other, it's a certainty. In fact, the character is quite difficult to understand when you are closely interested in sport. With his handsome face and his smile, he rarely lets negative emotions betray.
But when he lets something slip, everyone knows. There is no “in-between” with No. 46. It's a whole pilot, and you either take it with its flaws and its exits, or you don't take it at all. Very rare are the people who love him “only for his driving”, or “only for his personality”.
Vale is a wave that stands before us. Almost 25 years of history, and so many trophies. Either you decide to go with it, or you decide to fight against it. By the way, this also applies to pilots. The Márquez example is typical. First dubbed by “the doctor”, then disowned mainly because of a battle of ego.
The magnificent YZR M1 from 2017. 11 years after its Grand Prix debut, the doctor is still on top.
“Valentinik” is racing intelligence. It's regularity for the benefit of points, it's the driving style that evolves, resulting from constant learning. He never stops learning and being interested. Heading into the 2004 season, this is exactly what Yamaha has been missing since the early 1990s and Wayne Rainey: a marked identity, a project embodied by a charismatic man, by a passionate person.
Yamaha and Jeremy Burgess have always sought to put Rossi in the best conditions. You know, the Rossi who patiently waits for the opportunity to overtake, often on the brakes or in unlikely places. Yes, this predatory Rossi who studies the prey for turns before trapping the opponent with no possible response.
Rossi and Lorenzo, the best enemies. A rivalry that gave us a decade of emotionally charged battles. Here in a victory lap in Austin in 2014.
For this, a versatile, stable motorcycle was needed, perfectly tuned with the expertise of the best. The close relationship with Yamaha did not end there. Indeed, the sponsor Fiat directly linked to Rossi punctuated the end of the first decade of the 21st century. This legendary livery was mounted by another great pilot, Jorge Lorenzo. We will have time to come back to this last one in the next episode, but it still needs to be mentioned here. No driver has posed more problems for Valentino than the Spaniard.
Thus, their turbulent relationship mainly helped Yamaha to develop, and to make the team one of the two most renowned in history. The association is comparable to that of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna at the end of the 1980s in Formula 1. Two titans with equal machines, two legends, two masters of their art. An art, yes, because a decade-long rivalry goes beyond even the framework of sport. The art of war, the art of surpassing oneself with machines representing the pinnacle of human construction.
Rossi on Yamaha is MotoGP and everything it represents. It's that simple.
Cover photo: MotoGPitalia
