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December 11, 2019
In a historical event, F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton and MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi swap their machines at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Photo: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes, riding the 2019 Yamaha YZR-M1 during the #LH44VR46 test at Ricardo Tormo circuit of Valencia on December 09, 2019, in Valencia, Spain. Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi swapped their machinery in an unprecedented experiment between two motorsport icons. Photo by Guido De Bortoli/Getty Images for Monster Energy. Copyright © 2019 Getty Images.
Photo: Valentino Rossi of Italy and Yamaha Factory Racing at the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ during the #LH44VR46 test at Ricardo Tormo circuit of Valencia on December 09, 2019, in Valencia, Spain. Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi swapped their machinery in an unprecedented experiment between two motorsport icons. Photo by Mirco Lazzari/Getty Images for Monster Energy. Copyright © 2019 Getty Images.
Valencia, Spain, December 09, 2019 — In a historic moment for both Lewis Hamilton and Valentino Rossi, and their respective sports, the pair completed a fantastic track day as each swapped machinery yesterday at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Valentino Rossi drove The Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+, a car that won the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship at the hands of Lewis Hamilton. And Lewis rode the 2019 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1 bike that only weeks earlier had been piloted by Valentino at the very same circuit.
The pair was able to complete multiple runs on each other’s machinery and share insights and learnings about each other’s craft.
The six-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton:
“It’s so awesome to see a legend like Valentino in the car. I’m excited for him to discover the car for the first time. It reminds me of my first time in an F1 car. When you see all the team around you, it’s just a different animal.”
Of his time out on track riding the Yamaha YZR-M1 with Rossi, he added, “It was so cool to be out on track and see Valentino ahead of me on the same bike.”
For the nine-time MotoGP World Champion, Valentino Rossi:
“I was a big fan of Lewis’ before, but now I am even more. We had a fantastic day where the two top classes of motorsports not only met but worked together. I felt like a real F1 driver for a day. I didn’t want the day to end.
“I also rode the YZR-M1 on track with Lewis. It was a proud moment for the team to share our passion with him. Technically, Valencia is a hard track, and today was windy, so at one point, I thought it would be difficult for Lewis to continue, but he was brilliant on the bike, and his position on the M1 was great. I think he had loads of fun, which is the main thing.”
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 1:51 AM | Link to this Post
