Yamaha boss praises Valentino Rossi’s fighting spirit

Valentino Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio has praised the Italian’s never-say-die attitude after his crucial victories in Laguna Seca and Brno.

Rossi’s wins in America and the Czech Republic came after title rival Casey Stoner had dominated practice and qualifying at both events, only for the the 29-year-old to come out on top in the race.

Rossi now holds a commanding 50-point lead after his own recent good run stopped Stoner’s mid-season purple patch when the Aussie won three races on the bounce to close to within 20-points just two rounds ago.

Brivio told MCN it was testament to Rossi’s belief and skill that he could defeat Stoner on two of his best tracks in Laguna Seca and Brno.

“When Casey and Ducati are at the top of their peformance potential, to beat them is impressive. Valentino had to use all of his energy and experience in Laguna, but also his riding and the willingness to win and to stay in front was amazing. The message the young riders should take from this is that even when we were a second a lap off during the practice, when everybody else would have been depressed and given up to fight for second,  Valentino started with the intention to win. If you think rationally it was almost crazy to think about winning in Laguna, but his fighting spirit is amazing.”

Brivio believes Ross’s Laguna triumph will go down as one of the turning points of the season, as it came on a circuit where Stoner had threatened to embarrass his rivals with his speed.

Brivio added that the California win had been a massive confidence boost for Rossi and his team.

“It was very important because it gave a lot of belief to Valentino and to the team and it was a big motivation to everybody. What was exceptional was that despite being far behind in the practice we never gave up, also in Brno. The three races before Laguna, Casey had been incredible and it looked difficult to beat him. So Laguna proved that we could do it and we started in Brno thinking we could do it again. Casey did an exceptional first lap but then we maintained our pace and this was a good sign. We were able put some pressure on Casey and for the first time he wasn’t able to use another exceptional first lap to pull away”, added Brivio.