Statistics overwhelm and teach that with the retirement of Valentino Rossi a motorcycle legend leaves. The most charismatic driver in the padocck put an end to speed after 26 seasons. Nine crowns, seven MotoGP; 432 races; 135 victorias; 199 podiums; he won 29 of the 38 circuits… The numbers make the 42-year-old Italian a myth that the public would like to retain forever. The Grand Prix of the Valencian Community, on the Ricardo Tormo circuit, did not offer much at stake, but 76,226 spectators went to cheer on The doctor and they dyed the stands with No. 46 and the color yellow; the banners that they thanked with a Thanks Vale they were repeated along the 4-kilometer stretch of the route. The tenth place of the last dance will be an anecdote, the legacy is its best result.
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Valentino Rossi and the Yamaha team, after the Valencian Community GP (Alberto Saiz /)
The nine motorcycles with which he was champion were in the farewell function. The VR46 Riders Academy riders – among whom were Francesco Bagnaia, winner in Valencia and runner-up, behind Frenchman Fabio Quartararo – used the helmets with which Rossi was monarch. His partner, Francesca Sofía Novello, was on the grid – she was an umbrella – and she cried when The doctor the visor of his helmet was lowered to complete the 27 laps of the Grand Prix for the last time. Rivals and teammates such as Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and Max Biaggi walked in the paddock.
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Valentino Rossi in his last race, the Valencia GP (JOSE JORDAN /)
The square of the circuit was decorated with images that commemorated Rossi’s extraordinary career. Athletes such as Roger Federer, Michael Doohan, Casey Stoner, Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffón, F1 drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc … greeted the star in a video, while Ronaldo – the idol of Il Dottore when the Brazilian signed at Inter Milan – was in his box, lowered the checkered flag and even handed out one of the prizes on the podium.
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“It was very exciting when I got to the box, it looked like a casino, like I had won a championship. I enjoyed it a lot ”, confessed Rossi, who even the numbers accompanied him in the farewell: 14 + 11 + 21 = 46, the combination of the date of the last race is the sum of the mythical number with which Il Dottore fascinated the world . Petronas Yamaha’s garage was a party and that song that the Neapolitans sang to Diego Maradona he replied, but with Valentino: “Oh mum, mum, mum / oh mum, mum, mum / ¿do you know why my heart beats? / I have seen Valentino / I have seen Valentino / eh, mum, in love I know”.
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Here, there and everywhere: the mural dedicated to Valentino Rossi in Spain (Alberto Saiz /)
It is no coincidence that 30 million people follow his social networks, that due to his presence the MotoGP calendar was extended to 21 races and covers four continents. Nor that 400 million people in the world follow the transmissions of each competition … Because Rossi caused motorcycles to leave amateurism to become a professional sport. If at the beginning, at the age of 17, his rivals sometimes had room to smoke a cigarette, now they are all high-performance athletes who train for hours every day. If before, camaraderie was the norm, today only those who are part of the Academy are friends, that school that Rossi built with his friends from Tavullia. “I wanted to win, dedicate this victory and this race to Vale, for everything he did for us,” said Bagnaia, who met the Maestro in qualifying and as if it were a reflex action “helped” him to have better performance. “I owe him so much that I couldn’t not wear it”, the sincerity of the Ducati rider, the brand that established itself among the Manufacturers and Teams in 2021.
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Yellow world: Valentino Rossi fans accompanied the Italian in Valencia (JOSE JORDAN /)
The riders of the grid waited for him at the last bend in the lap of honor to give him the last hug, the track stewards also greeted the passage of the Yamaha, with which Rossi rehearsed a couple of “hangings” and turned on, as if If necessary, to an audience that gathered to honor him, express in a thousand ways that unbreakable love that surpassed the passes of brands, teams, teammates …
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The smile of Valentino Rossi; the multiple champion had an unforgettable farewell to the slopes (Alberto Saiz /)
The farewell to the showman, the one who made motorcycles reach the whole planet, the one who was a rival, companion and idol and mirror of the youngest … “It is difficult to assimilate that it is the last MotoGP weekend of my life”, launched, with emotion the pilot who became a myth.
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