It was supposed to be a big party and it was all the way through. Not only did Valentino Rossi have the opportunity to say goodbye to Italian fans for the last time in his MotoGP career today, but he did so by achieving one of the best results of the season. It is true that his tenth place was also favored by the many crashes that characterized the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna, but it was also the third top 10 of the season after those of Mugello and Austria.
Among other things, at the beginning of the weekend he said that it would be nice to take leave of Misano by finishing in the top 10. A goal that after qualifying seemed almost impossible to reach, given that he started from the last box of the grid, but that the “Doctor” managed to achieve this by climbing the rankings with his Yamaha Petronas.
“I’m happy today, because I had a good race and it was the best way to say hi. I didn’t want to have a bad race and stay behind, so I tried to stay focused, because starting from the back of the grid is always difficult. I felt good. with the bike and with the tires, then I knew that in the dry my potential could be better “, said Valentino at the end of the day.
“I was able to do some battle and some overtaking, so I ended up in the top 10. As I said, it’s the best way to say hello to all the fans, because there was a really great atmosphere around the circuit. Lots of people, a beautiful sunny day: it was really exciting “, he added.
Even before and after the race, however, there were many special tributes this weekend, so the weight began to retrace all those that made him move the most.
“I really liked the special that Sky did on Thursday, with the interviews with my dad and my mom, but also with the Academy riders. That was very nice. But then this day is unforgettable, because it was the last Misano. , with the bikes of our team yellow with the words ‘thank you Vale’, with all my friends in yellow jerseys. It was a nice surprise, because I didn’t know. In the lap of honor then I stopped under the grandstand of my fans and I threw the helmet. These are all things I will always remember. “
But today not only the fans paid tribute to him. After the race, Rossi was awarded as a symbol of Made in Italy in the world, in the presence of leading figures from politics and the Coni.
“The Frecce Tricolore were also very exciting. Then I saw Malagò, Vezzali, Di Maio and they rewarded me because I am one of the most famous Italian sportsmen in the world. This makes me very proud. Today I tried to enjoy it and I must say that there were really good times. “
A photographer also swore that he saw him crying under his helmet in recent days, but the 9-time world champion denied it: “It’s a lie, but I’m not against the idea of crying, it’s just that I’m not it comes to me. I cried because I started last, that yes (laughs) “.
The congratulations to the new world champion Fabio Quartararo could not be missing, who according to him has all the credentials to open a new winning cycle in Yamaha.
“Quartararo badly deserved it this World Championship, because he went very fast. He managed to get great results even on tracks where Yamaha started at a disadvantage, so it’s right that he is world champion. But then he always went fast without never go wrong, so he deserves the compliments “.
“I think next year’s Yamaha team, with him and Morbidelli, is one of the strongest: Fabio can open a cycle, but Franco has also shown he can win, so they will push themselves to improve and I think there will be work to Lin Jarvis. But Yamaha is always trying to have two strong riders and I think they have found them. “
To his pupil Pecco Bagnaia, who crashed when he was in command and could still keep the World Championship open, he reserved a little tease of the ears, revealing that he had advised against racing with the hard tire on the front.
“For me the hard front was too dangerous today. I tried to tell Pecco, but in the end he mounted it. Unfortunately, the temperature dropped in the last part of the race and that’s it with the hard, that’s really enough. little to fall. It’s a shame, because Pecco was the fastest today, so he could still keep the World Championship open. It’s a real shame “.
For 2022, however, he has no doubt to place him in the front row among the candidates for the title race. What is surprising, if anything, are the names he puts immediately behind him, because among them he has also included his brother Luca.
“In the front row I would put Bagnaia, Quartararo and Marquez. In the second row Morbidelli and Marini, together with Mir. Maybe I’m a bit biased, but these seem to me to be the ones who go faster. Maybe I forgot Bastianini, then with him we can make a second all-Italian row, slipping it between Franco and Luca “.
His career as a MotoGP rider will definitely end in Valencia, but this does not mean that his passion for motorcycles will fail. Indeed, as a great head of the VR46 Riders Academy he will continue to ride a motorcycle often and willingly. Regarding the possibility of getting back on a MotoGP, even just as a tester, for the moment he still seems a bit reluctant.
“I ride a bike twice a week, because on Saturday we go to the Ranch and then I’m the one who decides where we go to train with the Academy. So I want to continue riding the bike, with the cross one, with that track, with the small ones. That won’t change, but we will have to see how much I will miss riding the MotoGP, because that is an incredible emotion. Even if what I’ve always thought is that testing is the most boring and tiring thing of the our job, so I don’t think I’ll be a test driver. But maybe I’ll do a test sometime. “
#Rossi #excited