Racing rider Valentino Rossi hangs up his leathers and the legend of the 46 begins
Racing rider Valentino Rossi retired from the Motorcycle World Championship at the recent Valencia Grand Prix, after 25 years in competition
Last Sunday at the Valencia Circuit, in the final race of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship season, we witnessed one of the most important moments: the retirement of Valentino Rossi from competition.
The Italian ends his career as a rider after 25 years in the World Championship, and he bids farewell with nine World Championships, being the only rider to have won titles in 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP.
Rossi’s debut came in 1996 at the Sepang Circuit in the 125cc category, at just 16 years old, finishing 13th in his first race, a good result for his debut in the World Championship. He achieved his first podium at the Austrian Grand Prix and his first victory at the Czech Republic Grand Prix that same year. But it was in 1997 when we saw him as the clear favourite, winning the 125cc title with 11 victories in 15 races.
And then came the step up to 250cc in 1998, where he won his first race at Assen, and then closed the season with four wins, undoubtedly the standout rookie, although he could not take the category crown. But the following year, in 1999, he had his revenge and claimed the title with a total of 9 victories.
With those numbers, Rossi made the leap to the premier class, then the 500cc, scoring his first podium at Jerez and his first victory at Donington Park, undoubtedly a learning year in 2000. The following year, 2001, marked the start of Rossi’s reign in the larger displacement class, and in 2001 he won his first world crown in the 500cc category.
The very next year the MotoGP era began, with Rossi again the best in 2002 and 2003, bidding farewell that year to his beloved Honda to take on a new challenge in 2004, riding the Yamaha, with which he remained king of the category in 2004 and 2005. He was crowned again in 2008 and 2009 with Yamaha, and after two barren years, the passion of the 46 returned.
After the Yamaha era, he opted for an Italian machine with an Italian rider, Ducati, a period that was hard and complicated, in which he achieved three podiums over two very difficult seasons, before finally deciding to return to Yamaha in 2013 and winning at Assen after three years without victories.
The following seasons were positive, with wins and podiums, until in 2017 came one of the most difficult moments of his sporting career: the leg fracture before the San Marino Grand Prix, which left him badly hurt. The seasons went by with victories but no further titles; the last time we saw the Italian on the podium was in 2020, when he took third place at the Jerez Circuit.
And in 2021 the time came to change direction, with his final races with the Petronas Yamaha team, in difficult trials, but as always fighting at every corner and on every circuit.
Valentino Rossi decided in 2021 to hang up his leathers, but the 46 will never leave motorcycles, and he will surely stay connected in one way or another, because Vale loves the bike, as our dear Ángel Nieto used to say.
We can only say Grazie Vale.
