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Luca Cadalora

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13 May, 2016

Cadalora: Rossi ‘a Frankenstein Rider’

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Caladora talks about how he came to help Rossi;

I didn’t know him well. One day we met in Misano with the R1. He invited me to the Ranch at Tavullia. Then he asked me to follow him to the Phillip Island test. He asked me if I would be his ‘Boris Becker’ (former number 1 professional tennis player who has helped many current players). I told him that the money was not important, the passion yes. And I told him that the job had to be serious, or it wasn’t worth even to start.

On his style:

I don’t give any advice, I don’t allow myself to say, ‘Do this or do that.’ I think about what I have seen and then speak. Then Valentino decides to use those words as he sees fit. I go around the circuit with my scooter and study the track; I observe. I try to ‘feel’ the circuit and watch how Valentino and the other riders interact with the track. And afterwards, by studying the times, perhaps he can discern whether it is better to use this or that line. It’s not a very technical operation, there is not a hard rule or anything like that. Each time is different. It’s a little ‘artistic’ work, so to speak. And it’s good that way. What is really important is that Valentino and I do stay tuned. Today’s bikes and riders are at the very limit. The difference is one-tenth of a second per lap or less. You win by covering all the details.

On Rossi’s riding style:

He is a Frankenstein rider. As focused as Eddie Lawson, as whimsical as Kevin Schwantz; able to improvise like Wayne Rainey, while being as combative as Mick Doohan. All this with the enthusiasm and the desire of a teenager to improve…I expected to find another type of person. He is a simple, modest, likeable, straightforward guy.