ROSSI’S RIDING TECHNIQUE EVOLUTION

NO OTHER MOTORCYCLE racer has had to reinvent themselves as often as Valentino Rossi. During the quarter century of his GP career, he adapted from 125-cc two-strokes to 250-cc two-strokes to 500-cc two-strokes, from rotary-valve induction to reed-valve induction, from 990-cc four-strokes to 800-cc four-strokes to 1,000-cc four-strokes, from Dunlop tyres to Michelin to Bridgestone and back to Michelin, from no rider-control electronics to ultra-high-technology electronics and back to lower-tech electronics.

All motorcycle racers have their own riding technique, which they must rework each time they change machine, by understanding what that bike needs to achieve its maximum and by adjusting how they ride to suit those demands.

In 1996, Vale raced a rotary-valve 125-cc two-stroke that weighed 70 kilograms and was good for 140 mph (225 km/h). In the year he reached his retirement age, he raced a 1,000-cc four-stroke that weighed nearly 160 kilos and nudged 220 mph (350 km/h).

It is inevitable that such motorcycles need to be ridden in different ways. The essential difference between racing a low-powered bike and a high-powered bike is the speed