“I race to win. If I am on the bike or in a car it will always be the same.”

The speed is something dangerous but very exciting.

It is dangerous and unbelievably fast and entirely different from the kind of track I am used to racing on.

You try to do a technical feature: in front of me I had a strong rider who brakes hard and it’s difficult to pass.

I am completely focused on being strong, riding fast, and enjoying myself. With the new generation of riders, only the chronometer counts. I need to be faster than them on track.

Riding a race bike is an art – a thing that you do because you feel something inside.

Giving yourself threads doesn’t mean you don’t believe in yourself in my opinion.

We kept on racing, doing something that Luis [Salom] loved. Fortunately or unfortunately, life goes on.

The tragic incident of Luis Salom reminds us that our sport, our passion, is dangerous. We know it but, in a way, we don’t think about it.

I like physical exercise. I actually like sports in general. I really like snowboarding and playing soccer, too.

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

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

Also, when I started racing he knew a lot of people and it was more easy for me to find the first bike, so I have a good chance for sure.

The work that we do during the winter is very important; we have a new bike and it’s important to develop it during this time.

Fortunately during my career I have won more or less everything, so I need to enjoy it to have the right motivation.

In 2002 the Yamaha was at more or less the same level as the Honda, better in some ways, worse in others. But in the winter of last year between 2002 and 2003, Honda made a big step forward and it seemed as if Yamaha couldn’t quite match that improvement.

Barcelona is a special track. I have always loved the layout of the circuit, but also the atmosphere and the fans are special. It has always been good fun.

The existence of a higher power with any consciousness or interest in the human race or ability to punish or reward humans for their moral choices or that there is any reason other than fear to believe in any version of an afterlife, I will give you my piano, one of my legs and my wife.

The single sculler, alone on the river at dawn, or spotlighted in his lane during a race, is th emost romantic, the most quixotic figure in all rowing.

We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that.

I’d always been a news junkie, always read lots of newspapers and watched the Sunday morning news shows on TV and felt strongly about issues of power, control, sexuality and race.

The winner of the hoop race will be the first to realize her dream, not society’s dream, her own personal dream.

Is the Jewish race thriftier than the Arab race?

I’m going to make a very bold statement: Hip-hop has done more than any leader, politician, or anyone to improve race relations.

Regarding race or gender or sexuality, one of the great things about art and music is that they can provide people with very little else in common with a similar entry point for discussion, but the discussions still need to happen for life to get more interesting.