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MotoGP icon Valentino Rossi announced his retirement this week from the motorsport after 21 years, sending waves across the world of professional racing.
A number of personalities in the racing world have paid tribute to the 42-year-old Italian motorcycle racer, including some of his former rivals.
“We are losing a part of MotoGP, maybe the biggest part of MotoGP because Valentino always brings a lot of people and he did many good things inside and outside the track,” said six-time world champion Marc Marquez who had a bitter falling out with Rossi in 2015.
“Everybody knows our personal relationship is not the best and everyone has his way, but I don’t have any problems and I can recognise that we are losing something big in MotoGP.
“Luckily for MotoGP, still he will be involved in the world, but if we evaluate his career – his 25-year career, or maybe more – it’s something special, unique and [he’s] a legend.”
Born in 1979 to Graziano Rossi, a former motorcycle racer, the young Rossi was first encouraged to take up karting, fuelled by his mother Stefania’s concern about her son’s safety.
But speed is in the Rossi bloodline and by the age of 12, he was racing in the mini-bike championships after winning the regional kart championship in 1990.
Six years later, he made his debut in grand prix motorcycle racing and won his first race at the Czech Republic Grand Prix.
He went on to win the 1997 125cc title, which helped him move up to the 250cc class the following year.
In 1999, he won his first 250cc world championship, levelling up to win the 500cc title in 2001. He was part of the first cohort of MotoGP when it started in 2002, and dominated the sport until 2005, earning the nickname ‘The Doctor’.
Rossi’s legacy is not just limited to his racing. He became just as known for his off-track colour and flavour.
For one, his superstition was well-known. On a race day, he would always watch the beginning of the Moto3 race to see how long the starting lights remained lit before going out at the start of the race.
Prior to riding, he would start his personal ritual by stopping about two metres from his bike, bending over and reaching for his boots. Then, when arriving at his bike, he would crouch down and hold the right-side foot-peg, with his head bowed. He also admitted to putting one particular boot and glove on before the other, and always got on and off the bike the same way. As the colourful character retires, he is set to run his own MotoGP next year with Ducati machinery.
