Athlete

I was lucky. My father raced bikes. He gave me the passion very early. I had my first bike when I was three or four years old.

I am able to ride the bike and think clearly about strategy and tyres. I also have positive thinking. I am very constructively critical.

Once the races begin it's more difficult and there is never that much time for testing.

In my opinion we are at the limit now, and 17 races is really too much. With all the testing that we do now, it means we're always on the bike and it's quite difficult.

Maybe the bike is more dangerous, but the passion for the car for me is second to the bike.

My father raced bikes. He gave me the passion very early. I had my first bike when I was three or four years old.

You look at Moto3, the races are very exciting. Moto2 is fantastic, and then MotoGP is boring.

If I test the car for a year I can be quite competitive the next season.

I always enjoyed myself a lot in pre-school.

The great fights with your strongest rivals are always the biggest motivation. When you win easily it's not the same taste.

In 2002 the Yamaha was at more or less the same level as the Honda, better in some ways, worse in others. But in the winter of last year between 2002 and 2003, Honda made a big step forward and it seemed as if Yamaha couldn't quite match that improvement.

It is a big problem and so I don't know for sure if I say yes or no to Ferrari.

The work that we do during the winter is very important; we have a new bike and it's important to develop it during this time, and we start with this test.

The most important thing is to have a good relationship with the bike... you have to understand what she wants. I think of a motorcycle as a woman, and I know that sounds silly, but it's true.

I'm Valentino Rossi. And I want to be a person, not an icon.

Also, when I started racing he knew a lot of people and it was more easy for me to find the first bike, so I have a good chance for sure.

We have the 2004 M1 here for reference, which is useful. It worked well here last year; we won the race and always did fast lap times so it will be interesting to compare it to the new bike and it will help us to understand which parts have improved.

Fortunately during my career I have won more or less everything, so I need to enjoy it to have the right motivation.

I have won on Honda and Yamaha so maybe it is interesting to win with a third team, Ducati, who are Italian.

I race to win. If I am on the bike or in a car it will always be the same.