Rossi hungry for victory

“For me it's the taste of the victory,” said Rossi. “It's something different from all other things. It's like a drug. This is the main reason for racing. Unfortunately, it's very short-lived – only three or four hours – the next day, you need more. It never stops.”

He added: “There's a lot of adrenaline before the race but it's a good feeling. But after the race starts, you are in another dimension. You get this high level of concentration and do what you have to do. Everything becomes clear.”

Rossi however also spoke about the changing landscape of life in GP and how things have changed over the years: “In the last few years, the sport has become too serious and so have the riders. In the past, it was more just about bravery but now everybody is more serious and very athletic. They diet and train a lot and don't have a normal life. I think it's important to be able to have fun too!”

And he couldn’t help but add mischievously about his now old foe Casey Stoner and their epic battle at Laguna Seca in 2008: “Stoner started to hate me just because he lost. After that, he always seemed to talk about the past, this race, because he wasn't man enough to understand that at that time, he lost!”