Motor Sports Books

Una vita a 300 - A life in the fast lane - Una vida a 300

A photo book on 2009 MotoGP season by Mirco Lazzari, ed. Tipografia Rumor, Vicenza, November 2009, 30 x 30 cm format, hardcover, 210 pages with color photos, texts in English, Spanish and Italian.

The 4th volume by Mirco Lazzari is an exclusive of Auto-Mobilia. Foreword by Carmelo Ezpeleta, Italian text by Alessandro Pasini, Spanish text by Alberto Gómez Brunete, English text by Max Oxley. Photo by Mirco Lazzari and Carlo Gambini.

www.unavitaa300.com

www.mircolazzari.com

An excerpt fromJorge Lorenzo chapter:

LORENZO: ARE MIND GAMES ENOUGH?

MotoGP’s newest star uses eastern yogic-inspired preparation techniques to help make him faster, but will it be enough?
Jorge Lorenzo is a cocky little upstart, but somehow his arrogant air suits the young Spaniard. He carries a heap of attitude with him and he carries it well. He needs it too, because otherwise he might just disappear from sight in the long, long shadow of Valentino Rossi’s pop-star profile.

Rossi and Lorenzo share much in common. They are both crowd-pleasing racers who mix genius race craft with a talent for show business. They are very different from MotoGP’s other leaders, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa, who are uncomfortable with their fame.
Lorenzo’s ultimate desire is to eclipse Rossi, both on the racetrack and in global profile. His off-track persona is certainly studied – during 2008 he attended drama school in London – but on track he’s no poseur, he really is a pretender to Rossi’s crown. The youngest of MotoGP’s fastest foursome, Lorenzo was Rossi’s greatest rival for the 2009 world championship title. It helped that he was aboard a full-factory YZR-M1, the best bike on the MotoGP grid.
Runner-up with four wins and eight further podium finishes, Lorenzo knows he will have to do something very special to take the title off Rossi, which is why he has been studying ways of enhancing his own consciousness. He studies sophrology, a self-improvement method inspired by eastern yogic teachers which uses processes similar to self-hypnotism to improve physical and mental performance.
“I am learning to change my mentality to suit each situation,” says Lorenzo who employs sophrology’s ‘dynamic relaxation’ routines before he goes out on track, using rock music and breathing techniques to help him ready himself for that day’s challenges. “It is important to control your breathing is you want proper control over your mind and your body. If you have that control, for sure you can do whatever you want.”
Of course, these techniques are nothing out of this world; they seem similar to other pre-race preparations used by many riders to help get them ‘in the zone’, that almost transcendental state of mind that many sportsmen aim for whenever they’re getting ready to perform.
Lorenzo obviously believes that sophrology can boost his performance in similar ways by reducing stress, increasing energy and improving concentration and self-belief.
And it certainly seems to work because Lorenzo is one of the most self-confident people you could ever meet; though some might call it arrogance.
There’s no time better to witness Lorenzo’s self-belief than after he has scored a GP win.
The former 250 world champion – who seems to put as much effort into his image as most rock stars – rehearsed his victory routine in the smaller classes. In his 125 days he started out playing some ‘air guitar’ when he crossed the line, then he celebrated with a full ‘rock band’, all dressed in Lorenzo riding gear.
His ‘Lorenzo’s Land’ pantomime is now a constant: he collects a Lorenzo logoed flag from a flunky, swaggers into a gravel trap, falls to his knees and plants the flag like he’s some kind of Conquistador. Every GP he wins is another country conquered. “I think every rider wants to conquer the world,” he says. “It’s not a serious idea, it’s a joke, but I think it’s fun and I think it looks good.” Of course it’s corny, just like Rossi’s elaborate victory displays, but the fans seem to enjoy the theatre. “It’s important to always think of the people who watch us,” he adds.

Lorenzo conquered Japan, France, Indianapolis and Portugal last season, that’s four wins against three crashes, but he is probably still more famous for his bone-crunching tumbles. His 2008 rookie MotoGP season was marred by several horrific highside crashes. He calmed down somewhat during but has yet to learn to fully control his youthful enthusiasm. At Jerez he crashed out of a certain fourth place while chasing Stoner for third, at Brno he slid off while attacking Rossi for the lead and at Phillip Island he didn’t even make it beyond the first corner. At the time he had been just 18 points behind Rossi with three races to go.
Lorenzo manages to introduce an element of theatre even to his crashes. When he gets hurt he likes to parade round the paddock in a wheelchair. Taking weight off an injured foot makes a lot of sense for someone who has to save himself for riding a 340km/h motorcycle, but it’s hard to believe that there’s not some melodramatics at play here.
And there’s no doubt whatsoever that Lorenzo likes a bit of drama. In addition to his acting lessons he has produced his own comic book, called, of course, Lorenzo’s Land, in which he gets to hang out with Sylvester Stallone, tennis star Rafael Nadal and a bunch of other stars including a top Spanish bullfighter. And at just 22-years-old he wrote an acclaimed autobiography.