Nolan Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia-Romagna (Italy); Grande Prémio do Algarve (Portugal); Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix (Spain). Three races, just three meager Grands Prix, and a career in MotoGP from Valentino Rossi will be finished. A relationship with MotoGP which has lasted for more than 25 years, made up of nine world titles and above all a lot of emotions. Because if today the MotoGP it is what it is, it owes it first of all to Doctor, his cheerfulness, his ability to gather fans from all over the world and on every single circuit he has raced on.
Valentino, who is also about to become a dad, gave a beautiful interview, between serious and joking in full Vale style, to the Spanish version of DAZN, the famous Streaming platform, revealing that he is really unprepared to hang his helmet on a nail. These are his statements:
“I got paranoid thinking about Valencia. I think I’m not prepared for the moment when I stop being a pilot of MotoGP. When I announced my retirement, in Austria, I was not particularly influenced by my words. But now it’s different, I’ve realized my life is about to change. I’ve been talking about my retirement for 15 years, but I never worried about it. The farewell won’t be easy, but I think it can still be a good moment, despite everything ”.
The interview continues by touching on some iconic moments in the career of the 46, like the first World Cups won and the rather crazy choice to leave one Honda invincible to go, at the end of 2003, to drive for the Yamaha, a house that at the time was in a profound technical crisis. But at the time Rossi he was monstrous, an unbeatable automaton, and in his first year he immediately won the world title:
“There was definitely a bit of insanity in that choice, because at the time it felt like leaving Honda meant calling oneself out of the fight for Global. But I also had a lot of confidence in myself. For sure, I never expected to win with Yamaha already at the first race! “.
To remember as a possible farewell to Rossi at the MotoGP he was already talking at the end of 2006, in the period in which he had also taken some tests with Ferrari. In the thought of Valentino, but also of the house of Maranello, there was the intention to create a binomial Made in Italy which in terms of business would have had very few rivals in history. Rossi however, he explains that things did not materialize in the end “because I told myself that I wanted to race in MotoGP for as long as possible, with no regrets when I turned around”.
Finally, one decide Spain, where on the circuit of Valencia will run his last race and where, it can be said, he gathers more fans than the hosts every time he competes:
“Many of my strongest rivals have been Spaniards and the Iberian fans are always very energetic in supporting their favorites. Nevertheless, in Spain they have always treated me very well. Precisely for this I want to thank them, they always made me feel at home, even though I was an opponent ”.
Follow all the MotoGP Live on DAZN
OMNISPORT | 11-10-2021 15:41
– .
