Rossi accuses Honda of 'belittling' his feats

Valentino Rossi has accused his former team Honda of "belittling" his achievement in becoming the finest rider of his generation.

The Italian has won the last three MotoGP titles for Honda but turned his back on the Japanese manufacturer to pursue a new challenge with Gauloises Yamaha.

Rossi helped to develop Honda's RCV bike into the class act of the MotoGP field but revealed this week that he felt cheated by their treatment of him, claiming he was never given enough credit for his performances.

"Honda did not treat me like I deserved," he said. "It's possible they would have won without me, but the RCV was made by me. OK, it may sound arrogant, but I lapped Suzuka faster than anyone in the early development.

"Honda Racing Corporation people treat you like a state employee. You can win 30 GPs and all they do is try and belittle the achievements you had."

Despite his criticisms of Honda, Rossi admitted he found it difficult to make the decision to join Yamaha, who were rarely at the top end of the grid in 2003.

Yamaha's top-placed rider in last season's championship was Carlos Checa in seventh, and Rossi confessed he took time to pluck up the courage to join: "The decision was not so easy. I have to admit, every night before I went to bed I said to myself 'You don't have the guts to do it'."

But the 24-year-old is convinced he has made the right decision after surprising many with his pace in winter testing.

"I said to myself 'OK, let's do it' and suddenly at that moment I felt better. It was like taking a huge weight off my shoulders.

It has been funny from the start because everybodysaid that I wouldn't do it and then they said I was crazy," he added. "Now I think people are changing their opinion and I like it."