I bought a Yamaha-1 and I was doing 180 miles per hour home on the 405 and that's really, really crazy but I did it.
Veggard Heggem, my word, he must have a Yamaha down his shorts.
We raced against factory teams from Honda, Yamaha and the rest. And we raced on all the big tracks. Mid-Ohio, Bridgehampton, Summit Point, Road Atlanta, even Daytona International.
When I was young, I had one of those Yamaha drum machines, and I used to practice to that quite a bit, just to practice soloing and being in time and completing all my phrases.
I have a fantastic relationship with this factory and my team crew, who have worked so hard to make the M1 as competitive as it is now, and it just made sense to stay with Yamaha for another year.
I have a wonderful piano that I really love: a handmade Yamaha grand. Sometimes I'm sitting there, and it sounds so good that I find some little melody or a phrase that leads me into a song, but probably more often than not, I actually grab a notebook.
Nobody seems to play Yamaha electrics, but it's the best guitar I own.
Racing with Yamaha gives me a great taste and a great motivation to win; these last two championships have been two of the best,
I don't want to start any rumours but I've had a word with Yamaha about Casey myself. I've put in a good word for him. I think anybody at this time would be crazy not to consider Casey for a MotoGP ride.
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.