ROSSI'S EATING!!!!

On Sunday we were wandering in the paddock before the main event and noticed a crowd standing around in a rather unlikely place. I decided to stop and see what was up. Someone whispered, “Rossi’s inside that tent, eating!”

WOW!

I had yet to get a good photo of him, so I decided to stay. As the word spread, the crowd grew larger and larger. I had gotten what I’d hoped was a good spot for a photo if he came out on our side of the food tent. We watched Yamaha personnel come and go with plates of food, both AMA team members as well as mechanics, technicians, and so on from the MotoGP team. VIPs were occasionally hustled in to see Rossi chew. The crowd grew nervous. What if Rossi ducked out the other side? What if it was all a hoax?

As time passed, the other photographers in the crowd grew antsy, bringing up their lenses each time they sensed movement at the tent door, only to relax when someone other than The Doctor appeared.



A woman pushed her way to the front, pen and hat in hand, and asked the man guarding the barrier to let her in to get Rossi’s autograph. “They’d hang me alive if I let you in there,” he said in his southern drawl. She kept her stolen place at the front however, as a nervous Italian beside her fiddled with his Sharpie and general admission ticket, excited and terrified to be so close to Vale.

At last Rossi emerged, looking shy but full. He signed just about everything that was pressed toward him before leaving for the safety of the motor home behind the large green fence. But even after he’d reached the inside that area a crowd gathered for a glimpse either through a gap in the fence or over it.



After reading his autobiography, I didn’t know what to expect from Rossi in person. In the world of MotoGP he’s at the peak of adulation. No one has nearly as many fans at the race, and I suspect it is even worse in Europe and simply crazy in Italy. The only rider in the Laguna Seca paddock who received near as much attention was Nicky Hayden, but the Rossi fans outnumbered the Kentucky Kid’s by a huge factor, judging from the yellow shirts, hats, backpacks, etc etc.

Rossi was pleasantly congenial and generous to his many fans. I saw him several times and unless it was right before he was going to ride, he was approachable and even, as I mentioned, shy. He’s taller than most of the riders, who are decidedly short, and he’s slender and gangly when on two feet. He doesn’t look strong enough to wrangle a MotoGP bike around, but then again Dani Pedrosa weighs about 65 pounds.

I guess Rossi’s popularity with fans is due not only to his supreme skill and amazing success, but also to how, unlike the rarely smiling and usually aloof Pedrosa, Rossi seems to appreciate those who appreciate him. I admit I like him more and more as I learn more about him.

I don’t have a Rossi shirt yet, though. :P