QUESTION: If memory serves, Valentino Rossi's decision to end his long collaboration with crew chief Jeremy Burgess at the end of the 2013 season was fairly commonly dismissed as the desperate act of a fading star. It no longer looks that way now. Is Rossi’s performance in the time since a coincidence or was there a method to his seeming madness? Bill Reber Stevens, PA ANSWER: During Valentino Rossi's “time in the wilderness” at Ducati, the dominant style in MotoGP changed significantly: Marc Marquez arrived. Marquez had discovered that the 55-year-old Mike Hailwood knee-down style was not the final word in getting around corners. When Marquez perceived how extraordinary the Bridgestones were, he got to work on a way to better exploit their revolutionary grip. That was a matter of getting his whole upper body far off the bike on the inside, then as the apex was approached, increasing the lean angle further (you can see in videos his outside elbow coming up onto the tank and his inside elbow coming down onto the track surface). That position isn't the whole deal, as Marquez also had to develop smooth, non-upsetting ways of moving around the bike—all while it is cornering at 2G. This is "2G gymnastics.” Marquez probably had to train specifically to develop the muscles involved. Why extra lean at the apex? This limits the overwork of the sensitive tire edges, and it moves the fastest turning to earlier in the corner. Then he brings the bike up quite suddenly, releasing the extra traction he needs for early acceleration. 
When Rossi encountered this, he must have been somewhat dismayed by how hard it was to stay not only with Marquez, but also with the others who were studying it and trying to incorporate what they could of it into their own previous styles. When you change style, you must also change machine set-up, and both take time—you can’t just “pull them on like a shirt.” Your lifetime of reflexes have to be made conscious and then deliberately altered. Then you have to be able to play the music without looking at the score. That first year back at Yamaha, 2013, things didn't go well for Rossi. I suspect that, as you say, he felt desperation. But, like Kenny Roberts at Brands Hatch in the Match Races, he studied what Marquez was doing in detail, and began to understand. Progress may have been too slow for his taste, resulting in the break with Jeremy Burgess. Rossi began to get it, but the Yamaha can't be ridden like the Honda—Cal Crutchlow tried, and said, "I won't do it." The Yamaha has been developed for a corner-speed style, but the Honda is best at a more stop-turn-go style. Now Rossi has achieved enough of a re-make of himself that he can win races, and meanwhile the Honda has problems that are taking time to understand and fix. 
Why couldn't Rossi master the Ducati? As I see it, every year from 2008 to the recent past, Ducati has "un-developed" its bike. In 2007, Casey Stoner won eight races and the title. After that, he won fewer races every year. Then he went to Honda, won 10 races and the title again. The first time Stoner won the title was before the spec tire rule, so Bridgestone was making tires specifically for the Ducati. When the spec rule came in, that was no longer the case, the tires had to be a compromise that served the whole paddock. And then Ducati switched from the hooked-up but increasingly unstable trellis tube frame to the extremely stiff “black pyramid," the carbon-fiber frame/airbox. On that bike, Stoner began to lose the front. He said there was no warning. No mystery there. Years before, Honda's RC30 was famous for its lack of feel and its tendency to push the front. Why? The front of the chassis was constructed from deep, stiff beams and bolted directly to the front cylinder head. But by 1997 the follow-up model, the RC45, had been made less stiff laterally, resulting in better hook-up. Thus, Rossi on the Ducati was a case of this: The Lord Giveth, The Lord Taketh Away. Many riders are powerless to change their styles. Style is the only source of security—“Do it this way and you'll be safe." This is why Valentino Rossi is so impressive. He has been able to deliberately re-make himself and return to being competitive with what is surely the strongest group of riders in memory. Send your “Ask Kevin” questions to cwservice@cycleworld.com. We cannot guarantee a reply to every inquiry. 
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