Valentino Rossi is yet again flummoxing people all over the world with his unorthodox use of words for descriptions. He had on joining Ducati claimed that the motorcycle had to be ridden in “dirty” way. He also called his opponents and Casey Stoner principally, “pussies”. And now after ending the today test with next year’s Yamaha YZR-M1 he has come up with this new description that the motorcycle is “rude”. This has sent interpreters into a tizzy and the most widely accepted interpretation seems to be that he was hinting at the sound of the engine which is rough.

The rough sounding engine is supposedly a result of the attempts to run it lean so that it runs the race distance with only 20 litres of fuel, as opposed to the 21 litres that they have been allowed to use this year. Whatever his description of things, it is obvious that he is starting again on the back foot next year and 2014 does seem like it will be kinder to him than the last few years.