bye bye baby... |
first kiss, first winning |
Last week GP at Valencia was very emotional and heartbreaking especially for Rossi who had to kiss his Yamaha M1 for the last time, just like what he did seven years ago at Welkom (first winning with Yamaha). From what I've read in his autobiography book, Rossi considered his M1 as a woman, a girlfriend whom he loved dearly.. Too bad Yamaha finally chosen Lorenzo instead of Rossi (I read somewhere that Rossi would do anything he can to be with Yamaha till the end of his career, he wouldn't mind being a mechanic or else). Geez! Does Yamaha forget everything that Rossi has done for them? Yamaha was a trash back then! Rossi came and raised the bar. Rossi made Yamaha a winning team, not once or twice, but FOUR World Championship title and 46 wins!
Oh I'm so speechless.
Rossi even made a "love letter", a proper goodbye to Yamaha in Italian, here's the English translation: (zoom for detail)
Rossi love letter to Yamaha |
“It is very difficult to explain in just a few words what my relationship with Yamaha has been in these past seven years.
“Many things have changed since that far-off time in 2004, but especially ‘she’, my M1, has changed. At that time she was a poor middle-grid position MotoGP bike, derided by most of the riders and the MotoGP workers. Now, after having helped her to grow and improve, you can see her smiling in her garage, courted and admired, treated as the ‘top of the class’.
“The list of the people that made this transformation possible is very long, but I would like to thank anyway Masao Furusawa, Masahiko Nakajima and ‘my’ Hiroya Atsumi, as representatives of all the engineers that worked hard to change the face of our M1. Then Jeremy Burgess and all my guys in the garage, who took care of her with love on all the tracks of the world and also all the men and women that have worked in the Yamaha team during these years.
“Now the moment has come to look for new challenges; my work here at Yamaha is finished. Unfortunately even the most beautiful love stories finish, but they leave a lot of wonderful memories, like when my M1 and I kissed for the first time on the grass at Welkom, when she looked straight in my eyes and told me ‘I love you!’”
Just like he said, unfortunately even the most beautiful love stories finish..
Bye bye baby...
Rossi last kiss to his M1 |
But new season is right around the corner, April 2011 to be precise. Rossi moved with his entire team including Jerry Bergess, his longtime engineer. I can't wait anymore longer to see the first stint of the "Italian Wet Dream". Mi manchi VR <3