Valentino Rossi: The Doctor Series Episode 4/5 — Transcript

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1. 0:08More than 20 years after making their Grand Prix debut, a racer would normally be reviewed
2. 0:12in the past tense rather than the present. Not Valentino Rossi.
3. 0:17Having evolved through
4. 0:18multiple engine configurations, rule changes, teams and eras, he’s managed to remain just
5. 0:24as sharp a competitor and entertainer as ever
6. 0:30As soon as Vale arrived there, at the first year,
7. 0:33after only four races in MotoGP, incredibly he was already Valentino Rossi.
8. 0:37And because he had this funny mood, people liked him from the first time,
9. 0:42thanks to the spontaneous manner which he still has now.
10. 0:53Whilst there may be no secret formula for his longevity, other than a burning desire to compete
11. 0:57no matter where you open the page in his biography you’ll find the same mischievous,
12. 1:02passionate and committed figure.
13. 1:10Then there are the colours, the traditions and national pride that ride along with him
14. 1:16and at the heart of that is “The Doctor”.
15. 1:18Whether by accident or by choice
16. 1:20it’s a label that reflects much of a man who has been known for a very particular style of competing
17. 1:25and clinically assessing his opportunities to win in his trademark style.
18. 1:31If you want to understand Valentino Rossi the person, you first need to get to know
19. 1:35Valentino Rossi The Doctor.
20. 1:44First of all I love to ride motorcycles, and but also I enjoy this life.
21. 1:56I have a couple of views.
22. 1:58One is because when he prepares the bike, he is a kind of doctor
23. 2:03because he puts together many different aspects and variables.
24. 2:09It is a kind of mix that works finally at its best,
25. 2:14like a kind of medicine you know, The Doctor.
26. 2:18The other one is because it is a kind of university, so he is The Doctor,
27. 2:25but nobody really knows 100%.
28. 2:31I don’t know really the meaning, what I heard is that he has a very common name so
29. 2:36they said it is like being Dr. Rossi, a way of joking about his family name.
30. 2:44Whether it’s the detailing of his leathers,
31. 2:46the presence of his childhood mascots in or around his race attire,
32. 2:49or the beloved pets featured on his bike: Valentino and designer,
33. 2:53Aldo Drudi have built a persona that is unmistakably charming
34. 2:58as much as it is a focal point for his fans obsession with him.
35. 3:05Racing always with the number 46, also this is important for the fans to recognise, and
36. 3:10also the colour, the yellow, I see a lot of young babies who always love the 46 but because
37. 3:20it is yellow so you know I think it is a lot of things together.
38. 3:24He doesn’t like to change that much. Once he has his personality, his logos, his colours
39. 3:30he tries to stay with them that is why when he chose yellow he stayed with yellow and
40. 3:35he can identify with the yellow.
41. 3:37And these logos which now are very well known all around the world.
42. 3:42Towards the end of the 1990s and through the turn of the century Valentino Rossi was generating
43. 3:47headlines and video clips as much for his lively, wild and inventive post-race celebrations
44. 3:53as for the victories themselves.
45. 3:57Like some of the top entertainers in show business,
46. 3:59Rossi created his own persona and The Doctor was born.
47. 4:04Thanks to the strong bond with friends back in Tavullia
48. 4:07Rossi has been able to enact drama from the lights to the flag
49. 4:11and then continue the theatrics afterwards.
50. 4:15Well the fan club mainly started because lets say
51. 4:19we had the passion of motorcycle riding here in Tavullia and
52. 4:23then as you do, we had the good luck God sent us a decent rider like Valentino
53. 4:32and together with Uccio’s dad Rino, we thought of creating this thing.
54. 4:39There is no business here. Just friendship and we are still the same as 20 years ago.
55. 4:49It is a union of passion and friendship and that’s how the fan club was born.
56. 4:56We started just going at the bar, drinking beers and creating those gags, those little shows
57. 5:06Some of his gags that he was doing when he was young, they were kind of crazy and then
58. 5:11a lot of riders eventually followed it and brought a real sense of enjoyment, fun, passion
59. 5:18coupled with really really super performances.
60. 5:23Many would struggle to comprehend how the celebrations were allowed to take place or
61. 5:28even how far-fetched they would ultimately become.
62. 5:31My favourite gag. There is more than one, I love the one with the policemen.
63. 5:38After the race, when the policemen gave him the ticket made with speed camera.
64. 5:44That was cool because the fans were uncertain too
65. 5:49and the riders as well. They said:
66. 5:53“Whats happening here? Policemen?” Cause the policemen looked real.
67. 5:59It makes me laugh so much thinking about those two, they were the typical Italian policemen you know?
68. 6:05There was the fat one and…and he was the bastard,
69. 6:09and then there was the small one and more flexible.
70. 6:13His grandma called him on the phone and asked:
71. 6:16“Vale, it is true they fined you?”
72. 6:18he said: “no grandma, it was from the fan club.” “oh ok ok”.
73. 6:21The one with the pins in Jerez, where the last pin delayed the fall
74. 6:24and we planned that he wouldn’t fall.
75. 6:28You know how much Vale would’ve insisted he fell.
76. 6:31But anyways, that was prepared, as the others, at the last moment.
77. 6:37The Rossi Show has grown exponentially and the craziness around The Doctor ebbs and flows.
78. 6:43There have been seismic shifts in Rossi’s career.
79. 6:45The move from the all-conquering Honda team
80. 6:48where he had won five championships in a row to Yamaha in 2003 was seen as a risk,
81. 6:54yet it was a change between two manufacturers and two different racing philosophies that he wanted to make.
82. 7:01When he first came to Yamaha he said one of the most important things is
83. 7:05I need to have fun!
84. 7:06That’s also why he left his former team because he wasn’t enjoying enough,
85. 7:12it became too much hard work.
86. 7:14It allowed Rossi to grasp one of his most cherished victories
87. 7:17in an unforgettable debut at Welkom in South Africa in 2004.
88. 7:25The most special race was the Welkom 2004, the first victory with Yamaha,
89. 7:32I think it is my most important victory in my career.
90. 7:36This bike was you know? The black sheep. The bad one.
91. 7:43And when Vale tried it the first time I remember he rode six or seven laps,
92. 7:48he looked at me and said: “We can win with this bike"
93. 7:50In the end he was right,
94. 7:54and then he won the championship as well, so yeah.
95. 7:58There were the Ducati years, the return to Yamaha and the reinvention of his style to
96. 8:04remain competitive against both newcomers and old foes.
97. 8:08Never one to conform to protocol
98. 8:09– decisions relating to his career have been done with Valentino’s own special way.
99. 8:16Take the love letter to ‘his’ M1 upon announcing he was leaving Yamaha for Ducati
100. 8:20ahead of the 2011 season.
101. 8:28Everybody loves racing
102. 8:29Passionate for everything that he does, not only for bikes.
103. 8:33We see the big personality and are proud of him
104. 8:38Tavullia is a town that balances everything out,
105. 8:41so it helps you to see things in the right way.
106. 8:43And this, for me is what helped Vale a lot.
107. 8:48It keeps him, how would you say, from a human point of view
108. 8:53very close to his land and his people.
109. 8:58Tavullia is a small place but is a very special place for me.
110. 9:02The things that bring me back
111. 9:04to Tavullia everytime are especially my friends.
112. 9:09The Doctor has left an imprint in MotoGP and created millions of fans around the world,
113. 9:14and now Valentino Rossi has been busy in creating a different sort of legacy, which is where
114. 9:19we will pick up the final part of our story next time.