Brivio on superb experience of working with Rossi

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Valentino Rossi’s Team Manager at Fiat Yamaha, Davide Brivio, says the World Champion continues to surprise him with his achievements.

The novelty of repeatedly winning world titles does not seem to have faded for Valentino Rossi, and neither has Davide Brivio’s enthusiasm for working with the seven-times premier class World Champion.

Rossi’s fourth MotoGP title with Yamaha was met with high praise from those within the factory set-up, amongst them Brivio, who explained that the presence of team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had helped the Italian to increase his level of performance in 2009.

“Working with Valentino is always something special, and despite it having been six years he is always able to surprise with something new,” said Brivio. “Every year is special, but I think this year is because at the beginning of the season we realised we had big competition internally, and it wasn’t so easy because by the middle of the season the strongest rival was in the same garage. At the end of the day it was very interesting, and I think we managed it very well.”

He continued, “Big congratulations go to Valentino because we saw him working very hard this year, harder than ever I think. When the level goes up, and the competition becomes stronger, he puts in more effort. I think that’s why he’s still here celebrating championships.”

The 30 year-old’s twelfth podium of the season at Sepang on Sunday sealed the 2009 crown after a controlled ride in wet conditions, and it is Rossi’s lack of critical mistakes this year that Brivio believes has been key.

“The group (Rossi’s team) has been together for six years, and is always very careful about details and not making mistakes, because they do happen,” he said. “The target is to make as few mistakes as possible, but we really care about the details. Even the mechanics – who have been working together for 15 years – are always thinking how to make it better, and this is a motivation that comes from Valentino.”

“As he works so hard to beat his rivals, we also have to work harder to not make any mistakes and to give him the right set-up. We found out this year we had the best set-up on the track, we had two good riders, and I think we dominated the season, which is just fantastic.”