I'm Valentino Rossi. And I want to be a person, not an icon.

In 2009, I didn't like that Yamaha signed such a young and competitive teammate [Jorge Lorenzo]. But now everything is different. We are more mature. Everyone knows his role and position. Things are clear.

Once the races begin it's more difficult and there is never that much time for testing.

In my opinion we are at the limit now, and 17 races is really too much. With all the testing that we do now, it means we're always on the bike and it's quite difficult.

I am focused on racing. I enjoy it. It's a great feeling to be back fighting for the title.

I never race for records. The motivation to try to beat the record is not enough to continue. You have to enjoy it.

You need to realise that, if you want to go on, you have to work hard. If you dwell too much on your past successes and say "well, I have won nine world titles and more than 100 races", you'd rather stay home. The sport, your rivals, the tyres, your motorcycle, everything changes so instead you need to work more to be stronger. If you don't, you're finished.