I am able to ride the bike and think clearly about strategy and tyres. I also have positive thinking. I am very constructively critical.

I try to have a different relationship with the bike. I don't give it a name, but I always speak with it. I don't know if the other riders do the same. This is not only a piece of metal - there is a soul. The bike talks back too. But not with a voice, with the components

I am still here because I like to prove myself. I still like to ride the bike on track and enjoy the races. I still have good reasons to be in racing after so many years.

My approach to the races hasn't changed in my 20-year career. If I have the chance to attack and to pass, I do it, trying to get the best possible result.

You look at Moto3, the races are very exciting. Moto2 is fantastic, and then MotoGP is boring.

It is dangerous and unbelievably fast and entirely different from the kind of track I am used to racing on

I have so much respect for my opponents; many of them watched the races as little children and were supporting me!