Q & A with Valentino Rossi

After the race Rossi addressed the assembled media at a news conference and explained why this championship meant so much to him, and how he and his Yamaha team had fought back following their 2006 and 2007 defeats.

Q. You said this was probably the most important world championship you've ever won, and certainly the hardest you ever had to work to win a world championship.

Valentino Rossi: Yes, I think so. It's difficult to say. Maybe this one is better than the first championship with Yamaha in 2004. Every year is different, but in 2004 I arrived from two championships in a row with Honda, and for sure the change was a big change, and it was a surprise for a lot of people that I was able to win straightaway with Yamaha. A surprise also for us, I think...

But this year I didn't start as favourite number one. I think in 2006 I lost because I was unlucky and had some problems with the engine, but I was the faster on the track. But last year (Casey) Stoner was a lot faster than us, so we arrived at the end of the season with a lot of disadvantage to regain. So I didn't start as favourite.

So for me this championship was very important after the work of last year, firstly the change of tyres to Bridgestone, the decision I took with Jeremy (Burgess), the team and all of my Yamaha crew.

Also the improvement of the bike, because the second issue was that the first 800cc M1 last year was not very competitive. It was not at the top. I remember a very strange meeting in Valencia after the race, with my hand broken, speaking with (Masao) Furosawa about 2008, and we started at that point to try to understand what we needed to improve the engine and the bike.

It was very important also to put the right people in the right place, because last year the organisation of the team, especially with some of the Japanese engineers, was wrong. So this year we came back with the guys that worked in Japan on the engine, with the guys that worked with me on the track. It was step by step. It was very important also to take some Italian guys who worked with the Japanese on the electronics. MotoGP is a project, you know.

I think I made a lot of good decisions, and we were very competitive from the beginning. The first race in Qatar was the worst race of the season, but I knew that I had good potential. So after the race in Qatar, I was worried, but not desperate, because I knew if we fixed some problems it was possible to try to win.

Q. Did you learn a lot about yourself after losing the world championship when previously you had been so successful?

VR: Yes, I'm growing up, that's for sure. At the end of 2005 I had a great, great career where I won all the important results and all the important targets of my career. In 125cc, the second year was the championship. In 250cc the same, in 500cc the same. Four titles in a row in MotoGP with two different bikes. So I was a little bit unbeatable.

But in 2006 we had some problems at the beginning of the year. When you arrive from a lot of victories and have a problem, you think 'okay, we'll fix it, we have a lot of time'. This was the first mistake. When you start to have some problems, also it's possible to have some bad luck, some mistakes, also some injuries during 2006 and 2007.

It's very important for me, because I understood and I learnt to lose. These are the most difficult things, because when you win, everything is very good, everyone is your friend, and all is positive. But I think from these two years I come out stronger than before, especially the level of concentration and the level of effort in winning this championship is the highest in all my career.

Q. Was Laguna Seca the turning point for you this season?

VR: I think this season had some different periods. At the beginning of the year, it was the Michelin period. But we made some important results when our Bridgestone tyres were struggling - especially in Jerez, Portugal and Barcelona, where maybe Michelin had an advantage. We took a big advantage over Stoner, who in the end was our main rival.

After Barcelona, Ducati made a big step and Casey started to ride like a devil and dominated three races in a row, being first in all the practices from Friday morning to Sunday night. At that moment we arrived at Laguna Seca, and that for sure was the key point of the season because we didn't give up. We tried to improve our performance, and Laguna Seca was the battle between Stoner and me, and I was able to win. It was not just 25 points, for sure that victory was more important.

Q. You've committed your future to Yamaha and MotoGP, you seem very content.

VR: I had some good offers to go with Ducati or back to Honda, and I have anyway a good relationship with Honda and with Ducati. But I think I've already changed bike once in my career, so that was already done. And especially I am 29, I've raced since 1996, so I need a good atmosphere in the team to keep the motivation, because I'm not 20 years old now. I think the atmosphere in our team, from the Japanese guys, from Masao, from Lin (Jarvis), and also our team with (Davide) Brivio, with Jeremy Burgess and all the guys is fantastic, so I decided to stay for another two years.

Q. 2009 is going to be another tough year isn't it?

VR: I think 2009 will also be more difficult than this year. Now I'm back in the championship, and I've demonstrated - especially to me - that I'm very fast and I've been riding maybe the best in my career this year, because I've been very fast and I really made just one mistake, in Assen, during the season.

Next year I have to keep the motivation. The last three races are three good races, and next year is another story. Now we are very strong, but it depends on the winter tests, and the efforts of Yamaha, Ducati, (Dani) Pedrosa, Stoner, and also (Jorge) Lorenzo next year. It will be another great battle.

Q. Not much time for you to celebrate, as you're testing here tomorrow.

VR: I'm quite worried about my headache tomorrow morning. So I try to fight for starting the test tomorrow afternoon...