On and off the track Rossi has always been larger than life. "I think he could have probably ridden a wooden motorcycle around the track for a few years and still would have won." Rossi was known for his wild podium antics and he started young - one of the earliest was dressing up as Robin Hood after a win at Donington Park in 1997 A global phenomenon - movie stars to chain gangs He would drop back like a kitten plays with a mouse - he would play with some of the other guys. "He was very good at understanding a race - if he was in third or fourth he knew in his mind that he could win, but then he got so good that it was too easy for him for a while. "It is like you are comparing people with computers, it is like he has a bigger hard drive and bigger memory than the rest of the guys," Briggs told BBC Sport. He was with Rossi from 2000, when he made his debut in the 500cc class, until 2020. One man who knows what it's like to work with Rossi is his former mechanic, Alex Briggs. He is the only rider to have started 400 or more races in the sport's history, and has 89 victories in the premier class - no-one in the history of grand prix racing has ever come close to that. No MotoGP round would be complete without Rossi's "Yellow Army" who have followed him for more than 20 years His first title in the premier class came in 2001 at the age of 22, the first of five successive championships - on the Honda and then with Yamaha. Rossi's incredible record shows he is still the only rider in history to win World Championships in 125cc, 250cc, 500cc and MotoGP.
To many, Rossi is truly one of the motorsport greats, up there with Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood and Mick Doohan.īut why? Let names such as Max Biaggi, Fabio Quartararo and Lewis Hamilton fill you in. In 26 years, Rossi has become a global phenomenon, transcending the sport itself and, with it, amassing cult-like status with fans around the world.Īs MotoGP commentator Nick Harris observes, he is "someone who has changed the sport and brought it to places it had never been to before - without a doubt there has never been anyone like Valentino Rossi in 73 years of grand prix racing". In August, the 42-year-old announced this season would be his last, meaning Sunday's finale in Valencia will mark his farewell.
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