SuperBike Magazine July 2020

2019 was something that neither Honda
nor I could afford because both of us are
winners, not people who finish tenth or 15th.
I was suffering there, and life is for enjoying,
not suffering - especially when you’ve won
so much.
I don’t have regrets, because there’s
no sense to regret things that you can’t
change. But there will always be the question
of what would have happened if I had
won one month before at Ducati. Probably
we wouldn’t be here talking. But when I look
at my career, I can only consider myself a
very lucky guy and lucky sportsman. I’m
proud of it, and I can’t be unhappy. Most
importantly, my wrist is OK and I have no
problems with my back. I had some doubts
about the pain in my back, but it’s been fine
so far.
How did the deal with Yamaha happen?
Suddenly when I announced my retirement,
Yamaha came to me very interested. It
looked like the perfect role because I’m able
to do what I love and ride bikes, and I can
feel part of a project and the feeling of improving
things, which has always been nice.
But it’s without the travelling, without the
people in the paddock during a Grand Prix,
the pressure that comes with it. I thought
‘why not?’ because it gives me the best of
my career without the worst. Of course, I’ll
miss the feeling you can only get as a racer,
to win a MotoGP race, but you can’t have
everything in life.
I don’t know how I always seem to be
in the eye of all the attention, because it
happens a lot - when I buy a new car, when
I announce my plans! It sometimes creates
a lot of expectations, but I’m just doing what
I love - and I feel like at Yamaha now I can
have the good things without the bad things.
The feeling is already very familiar again in
the team. It’s not that they treated me badly
at Ducati and Honda; it’s quite the opposite
because they treated me well and gave me
their best. I have friends in both teams. But
in Yamaha, there’s a different feeling, and
the bike is very familiar-feeling too, especially
for my riding style.
You’ve always been a controversial
character, but is it fair to say that that’s
changed a little in recent months?
I think the main reason that I’ve always had
bad comments directed at me is because
I’ve been racing against Valentino, especially
after the polemic of Malaysia 2015. But
time is a great healer; humans forget both
negative and positive feelings very
quickly, and maybe as time has gone
on fans have started to understand
me a little better or maybe because
I’ve changed as a person. I think
maybe some people were touched by
my press conference at Valencia last
year too, and the response has been
popular.
Now that I’m not depending so
much on being an official rider or
working with sponsors, I can show
more or less whatever I want on social
media too. I can show the real life that
I live. It seems that people appreciate
it, even if there are some that are a
little against it because my real life is
about travelling and enjoying myself.
Some people have some envy, but I
think they’ll get used to it because
that’s how my life is going to be now,
at least for the moment. All humans