Car Fule

It is a monument of the motorcycle that goes away! Valentino Rossi, 9 times world champion (including 7 MotoGP titles), has just announced his retirement at the end of the 2021 season.

The ” Doctor “, to the famous number 46 neon yellow, was the one who carried MotoGP. Already world champion in 500cc when the title category was created in 2002, he won the first MotoGP championship this year with Honda.

The Schumacher of the motorcycle

He then dominates the queen category until 2005, after leaving for Yamaha. This period of domination led many fans to compare him to Michael Schumacher, who also flew over the debates in Formula 1 at the same time. Rossi will also have the opportunity to taste F1 in 2006 during tests with Ferrari. By finishing within a second of Schumacher that day, he will spawn a lot of rumors linking him to the Scuderia for a shuttlecock after the departure of “Schumi”. In the end, it will not be.

He narrowly missed the title in 2006, then suffered the law of the Australian Casey Stoner in 2007. But in 2008 and 2009, he shines again and largely wins the championship of the world. After an injury in 2010 and an unsuccessful stint of two years at Ducati, he returned to Yamaha and again became a contender for the title, especially in 2015 and 2016. He then formed a very intense rivalry with the young Spanish prodigy Marc Marquez.

A foreseen end

Several more difficult seasons followed. At the end of 2020, he announced his departure of the Yamaha factory team for the Petronas SRT satellite team. He is replaced within the official team by the French Fabio Quartararo, current leader of the world championship.

After a year of frustrations, Valentino Rossi announces a logical retirement. The Italian is now 42 years old, proof of a very rare longevity in a very physical sport. He quickly established himself on the international scene as the MotoGP representative and motorcycles in general, with legions of fans wielding yellow number 46s all over the world.

While the Doctor won’t be on the grid next year, he’s not completely straying from the paddocks. His future team, the team VR46, will be engaged in MotoGP from next season with Ducatis.

It remains to be seen if The Doctor will always remain a rider in the years to come… But on four wheels this time, as he has often recalled in recent years when asked about his after MotoGP…

Read also :