At Friday afternoon’s Riders for Health benefit auction at the Indy MotoGP round, Valentino Rossi first signed and then carried on stage my photo of him from Catalunya. He did a fantastic job of talking the image up, discussing how his elbow is almost touching the ground (which, he joked, would’ve been possible on the Yamaha he rode to three world titles but which on his current Ducati is a bit trickier) and saying that it was a very good photo. The bidding finally reached $2,000, a personal record for me (beating the $1,600 we got in 2009, also a shot of Rossi) and Vale then placed the gallery wrap print on the stage floor to sign the name of the winning bidder. It was a great way to kick off the auction and ended up being the big ticket item of the event. Thanks to the all who bid, and especially to Vale himself for his participation with Riders for Health.
Update: Here is a video showing Vale on stage. The auction section begins just after the 3 minute mark.
