• VALE : THE ETERNAL SPIRIT
OF MotoGP™
This weekend ’ s Grand Prix will witness one of the great sporting careers drawing to a close . After 26 years of competing on the world stage , which culminated in nine world titles , 115 grand prix victories and an unparalleled 199 premier class podiums , Valentino Rossi will finally hang up his leathers .
It has been quite a journey since a long haired , cheeky teenager made his debut at the Malaysian Grand Prix at Shah Alam in 1996 . Since that moment , Rossi became one of the world ’ s foremost sporting icons , and brought MotoGP™ to a mainstream audience for the first time . Like Tiger Woods in golf and Michael Jordan in basketball before him , Rossi was known worldwide even to those who had never watched a motorcycle race .
A combination of bravura talent , breathtaking riding and endless fun endeared Rossi to millions of fans . On track , he racked up victories and championships with seeming ease , swatting aside a series of heavyweight rivals without breaking stride . Off it , his victory celebrations became the stuff of legend , while grandstands at racetracks around the world turned yellow in support of the sport ’ s new star .
His sporting achievements are too numerous to mention here . But the highlights include two world championships in the junior classes with Aprilia ( he won the 125cc title at a canter in 1997 , the 250cc crown two years later in 1999 ) as well as the last ever 500cc title in 2001 . That he achieved it after a bitter year-long battle with great foe Max Biaggi simply added to his legend . By then Rossi was only getting started . He won two further MotoGP™ titles for Honda in 2002 and 2003 aboard its peerless RC211V , at the beginning of the all-new four-stroke era .
Then came a defining achievement . Bored at the ease with which he was winning , as well as frustrated by the perception he was only doing so because of the superiority of his Honda machinery , Rossi embarked on a mammoth challenge for 2004 : bring Yamaha , a factory in the doldrums , back to the top aboard its uncompetitive M1 .
He attacked the challenge with relish , overcoming Sete Gibernau in another year-long slog to win the title with a race to spare . He became only the second rider in history – along with Eddie Lawson – to win back-to-back titles for different manufacturers . He added another in 2005 for good measure . Then , after missing the title narrowly in 2006 then again in 2007 , he switched tyre suppliers – from Michelin to Bridgestone – to take on a new generation of talent , stronger and faster than the last . His titles in 2008 and 2009 also rank among his very best .
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