He is possibly one of the people who best knows Valentino Rossi. A lifetime buddy, class mate and companion in mischief, Alessio Salucci, “Uccio” as he´s known in the paddock, has joined the Italian star on each and every step on his way towards the top of the World Championship. We talked to him in Japan, once the hangover after the celebration of the new title clinched by Valen, the first in MotoGP, one week before in Brazil, was over.
– For how long hae you known Valentino?
“Quite a few years. We went to school together from four to the end of what would be the equivalent of “high school”. That would be roughly nineteen years, though I don´t remember well, we were so young…
– How do you remember him as a student; was Valentino a good student?
He was intelligent, had a good memory and it was easy for him to learn. But he didn´t like it, so his results were not the best, but only because he didn´t want them to be.
– Do you remember what his hobbies were as a kid?
Yes, Valentino was crazy about Formula 1. He dreamed of it, the F1 drivers were his idols, he was constantly drawing single-seaters and helmets, and the truth is that his designs had quite a good style… His favourite driver was Jean Alesi, and Valentino would spend hours drawing his helmet and making new designs.
– Did you get often into trouble as kids?
Sure! What else can a group of five or six kids in a small town of about eight hundred people do? Well, just about everything, any game or challenge would do and with our bikes we were the terror of Tavullia and especially of our school… I remember some teachers worried about us a lot and were scared that we would get hurt. The street leading to our school went all the way down and we always raced in braking late. Our teachers feared that one of us would end up crashing against the wall and they were always telling us to ride more slowly and carefully. Injuries were quite common. Once Valentino and I were trying to reach a tray with sweets that was on a shelf. Since we couldn´t reach it, I asked Valentino to put another chair on top of the one we were already using… You can probably imagine what happened, the chair moved, Valentino lost his balance, I couldn´t hold him and he ended up with a broken arm…
– What is the town of Tavullia like?
It´s a very small town with only about eight hundred inhabitants. With the surrounding areas there would probably be about three thousand inhabitants, but Tavullia as such is very small. We all know each other and everybody knows everything about everybody.
– When did Valentino begin to show his qualities on motorbikes?
“It all started with karts, when he was eight. He won the regional 60cc championship and that encouraged him to try and race in the 100cc the following year. But that was more expensive, so his father, Graciano, said that the kart adventure was over and that it was time to try his luck with minibikes. At nine we started to race on minibikes. I raced a couple of years for fun, but Valentino was completely different. He was very fast in the Italian Championship from the beginning. He finished second that year, although every time he managed to take the lead of a race he would end up crashing…
– In those first years, did you and Valentino talk about the Motorcycle World Championship?
No, we really didn´t. In those times, Valentino was still much more attracted by Formula 1, his real passion. Then, when he started racing in the Sport Production series on the Cagiva 125, he took an interest in riders such as Loris Capirossi, who he admired a lot, and Kevin Schwantz. Shortly after that he began taking part in the Spanish Championship, and I remember that in his first 125cc World Championship in 1996, during the preseason in Jerez, he was very excited about sharing the track with Aspar, Sakata, Aoki…
– Apart from being his friend, what else does Uccio do for Valentino, what are your duties?
In Europe I take care of his motorhome, I drive it from one Grand Prix to the other, I take care of the maintenance, cleaning it and making sure that everything is in place. Then, during the Grand Prix, I take care that Valentino has everything he needs at hand, that he is reassured and not worried by excessive commitments, etc… Outside of Europe I take care of things like leathers, helmets and mainly stay by his side. It is important for him to have somebody close by, especially when he is so far away from home.
– Have you always travelled with Valentino?
Yes, since Valentino started racing I´ve tried not to miss any race. In 1994 and 1995, my father´s transport company, CE-SAL, sponsored Valentino so I used to go to every race and combined the activities with working in my father´s company, driving trucks. And one day, in 1997, Valentino asked me to work for him, accompanying him and driving his motorhome. I talked to my father, and despite not being very enthusiastic about the idea at the beginning, he finally agreed and for some time I combined both jobs. As time went by I began to travel more with Valentino and finally left the job at my father´s company.
– What is life like in London for two Italian guys? Do you talk about motorbikes outside the races?
The truth is that we´re not often in London. Most of the time we´re travelling. If it´s not the races then it´s preseason practices and we also try to spend some time in Tavullia every now and then. But when we are in London we try to lead a very relaxed life. Valentino has to devote at least one hour a day to interviews. The rest of the time we do a bit of everything. He goes to the fitness centre for a couple of hours, and I join him, although I usually don´t workout with him, I only tell him his working plan. We also go to the movies, shopping and well, we do things any guy our age would do in that city. The first year and a half it was a bit hard for us to get used to it. We hardly knew anyone and we changed from living in a very small town to living in London. Later on we met some Italians who lived there as well and we began to have a group of people to go out with, so our situation improved. As for whether we talk about motorbikes or not, we usually do, especially if we are at a highly contended stage of the championship and there is pressure. But when we are with other people, Valentino prefers to talk about other things.
– Has Valentino´s character changed in any way since he became famous?
No, he hasn´t changed at all. What has changed has been the way to see people from his position. Before, everybody was a friend and everybody was nice but then he noticed that some people were only trying to get near him because he was famous and earned money. But he hasn´t changed as a person.
– This is Valentino Rossi´s seventh season in the World Championship. How many years do you think his motivation for winning and competing in the World Championship will last?
Yes, that´ a problem because Valentino is still very young, he´s only 23, but he´s already been at the highest level competition for seven years. He is a kid, but a big kid, because all other kids of his age do not have the same mentality. I believe that he will be competing as long as he has fun doing it; as soon as he stops having fun he´ll give it up. Maybe there are four or five years left. I know he would love to win the MotoGP World Championship on an Italian bike and I´m sure that next year he will be closely watching the evolution of Ducati and Aprilia in the World Championship. It would be like a dream, an Italian rider, riding an Italian bike, winning the World Championship…
– Which of Valentinos virtues would you highlight?
Valentino is a person who always tells you what he is thinking no matter whether it´s good or bad. For me, that´s one of his best virtues, because he never keeps anything for himself, he likes things to be clear. If somebody plays a dirty trick on him, Valentino doesn´t shut up, he tells that person exactly what he thinks.
– And a defect?
That he´s always late, that´s something that bothers me a lot. For me being late is being disrespectful towards the person who is waiting. He doesn´t do it on purpose, but I´m always telling him, that if you agreed to meet me at ten, you shouldn´t arrive at ten thirty… And the worst of it is that he doesn´t arrive late because he´s doing something important, but because he´s at home, absentminded, letting time go by.
– And what does Valentino like most outside the paddock?
Playing soccer, both in London and in Italy and dirt-tracking on a specially prepared bike he has in Tavullia.
– And the least?
Interviews.., although what he hates most is shooting advertising spots, because he has to put on make up, repeat the same scene several times and the shooting usually takes several hours…
– The day Uccio saw Valentino happier than ever?
I believe it was the day he won the first World Championship on the 125cc, in Brno, in the Czech Republic, in 1997. That was something very special, it was an unforgettable day.
– How many crazes and superstitions do you remember from Valentino?
It´s incredible. When Valentino is in the World Championship he becomes very superstitious. He´s got a lot of superstitions. For example, Valentino always starts dressing from the left side. That is, first the left sleeve of the shirt, of the leathers, of a jacket or the left shoe… In normal life he is more relaxed with these things, but as soon as he gets to the races he becomes incredibly superstitious.
– Uccio, you have dedicated almost all your life to Valentino. Once he gives up racing, what will Alessio Salucci do?
Well, that´s a question I´ve asked myself some times. I don´t know, maybe I´ll go back to working with my father, although maybe I´ll keep on working with Valentino if he continues with car racing… This is a difficult question but, as I told you, for the moment… I don´t know. I´m sure we´ll find something.
And while Uccio remains thoughtful, thinking about what the future might bring, his friend and lifetime buddy Valentino has won seven world titles, earned 23 victories and won the heart of thousands of fans around the whole world. They´ll surely find something to do together once Valentino has left the Motorcycle World Championship.
