From Indianapolis in the USA we travelled halfway around the world to Japan and there were no surprises that Valentino Rossi clinched his sixth premier-class title at Motegi. The ironic thing about it was that the MotoGP World Championship has been won for the past two seasons at the home of Honda by a non-Honda rider!

Whether you like Valentino or not he touches a part of you. Aside from winning his success is just as good off the track because of his intelligence and charm. After losing the championship for the second year in a row a lot of people wrote him off but he put a lot of pressure on Bridgestone, Yamaha and himself to build a weapon that could defeat Stoner. It worked.

You would think that losing for two straight seasons would bring out the worst side of Valentino’s character and I suppose in a way he had to be forceful, throw his toys out of the pram, stamp his feet and make sure he got what he wanted. Having said that, Yamaha boss Masao Furusawa said that he did so without ever speaking badly of anybody and without being negative. Even in times of adversity he gives positive criticism and brings out the best in the people around him.

Fiat Yamaha Team Manager Davide Brivio also revealed that Valentino started to take care of his body again. Valentino has said that in the past he could win almost whenever he wanted to but modern MotoGP machinery has become more important and Valentino can no longer rely on his sheer talent. When he lost in 2006 he presumed it would come back to him in 2007 but the strength and will of these young kids to beat him was too strong and the role of the bikes had changed. Valentino was big enough to realise this and he started putting the same demands on himself and those around him that he had in 2004 and 2005, when he rode on the limit to win the World Championship for Yamaha.

Casey’s package was very similar this season to what he had last year but the difference was that Yamaha built Valentino a bike that could challenge the Ducati. The move from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres had put pressure on the factory to show that their bike was up to it and they made massive improvements, allowing Jorge Lorenzo to shine by winning races and both James Toseland and Colin Edwards able to put the satellite bikes on the front row and the podium – showing they can perform too when they have grip. However, the difference between Bridgestone and Michelin’s race tyres meant that Valentino could challenge for and win races that maybe he couldn’t have last year.

The switch in tyres and the improvements with the bike meant that there were no excuses for Vale. He realised that in the winter tests and he knew he had to deliver once the season began. And that’s exactly what he did.