How long have you been at your job? In roughly 10 days, Valentino Rossi will begin his 19th consecutive year racing for the World championship. In the process, he has garnered 9 World titles. We all know he would love to get number 10 this year by dethroning the upstart Marc Marquez. Take a look at the infographic prepared by his long-time sponsor Dainese. For our younger readers, you will learn some history. The old guard is likely to see the humor along with the memories. Here it is (click to enlarge).
If I’m not mistaken, Rossi is the only current MotoGP rider to actually have raced a 500cc GP bike…
Maybe I’d better get my a– to COTA to see him in action. I know it could raise some debate but the GOAT tag fits him well. He’s always seemed to enjoy his job, upbeat with his fans, worked his a– off (usually when no one was looking), and 19 YEARS at a very high level. I wish he could’ve made the Duc work as I would’ve loved to see an Italian on an Italian bike with a championship to wind up a career.
I would love to get one of those winter hats Val has in the bottom photo. Perfect for this New England endless winter.
Rossi is a living legend, and he’s easy to root for because he always seems upbeat and happy.
Dainese could use an English grammar/spelling marketing specialist. This was a tough read, but nothing a bit of proofreading couldn’t have prevented.
On topic: placing other’s accomplishments on a rough timeline really illustrates his determination and talent. I doubt we’ll ever see the like.
What would you change? I didn’t notice any grievous errors.
Gosh, try reading some Chinese instruction manuals, they’ll have you loony in no time!
Nice, I wonder: on his mind, what’s a good age for retiring?
Hopefully long before he’s circling mid pack like Hayden and previously Edwards. Guess he will race as long as he wants to, but there is no pleasure in watching past champions floundering.
Biaggi retired at 41 as a reigning world champ (Superbike). Does Vale want to do anything less? Biaggi’s career however wasn’t as long as Vale’s as he only started to race at 18, in the same year as Vale.
I can not see Val going to WSBK to get a title even if he never wins another in MotoGP. I just don’t see it. Biaggi went to WSBK because he couldn’t win one in MotoGP.
Obviously Rossi is a greater rider than Biaggi and considers himself so. Max winning SBK = Vale winning MotoGP. Biaggi was as great as he ever was at 41 and there’s no reason Rossi couldn’t be.
Biaggi’s problem was that he couldn’t get a MotoGP ride capable of winning, but I think that was his own doing.
Biaggi had a factory Honda ride in 2005 paired with Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Hondas. Pedrosa got his ride when he couldn’t produce.
Btw nothing against Biaggi, great rider, just couldn’t win in MotoGP. Few can. look at Spies and numerous others. MotoGp is the best of the best. WSBK is competitive and exciting, but all Motorcycle racers aspire to try their hand at MotoGp. That is the ultimate test.
Biaggi won 13 500cc and MotoGP races, it’s silly to mention him in the same breath as Spies who won a single MotoGP race.
Only mentioned in the same breath as in a great rider who dominated WSBK but couldn’t win a championship in MotoGP , so I don’t believe it’s silly at all.
BTW Hayden has only won 3 races and has a Championship in his name. Whereas Pedrosa who also has never won a MotoGP championship has won 26 races.
Btw Biaggi only won 28 out of 155 starts in WSBK while Spies won just 7 less in only 28 starts
Nope thats wrong …my bad. Spies won 14 of 28 starts in WSB,.. 50 percent of the races he entered.
I believe there was a lot of politics behind the scene in 2005. That was Biaggi’s last and worst season in MotoGP/500s, I don’t think he all of a sudden forgot how to ride. He was blocked for a long time from the best bike/team by Doohan and Rossi, so that didn’t help his chances.
He has some amazing successes, one of only two riders (with Saarinen) to win his first 500 race, victories on the first generation M1 (under the displacement limit and with carbs!) agains Rossi and the RCV, and so on. But like in the end he didn’t manage to put it all together whe he needed to. Contrast this with Roberts Jr. who took his only chance at the title and ran away with it.
Re: “Biaggi was as great as he ever was at 41 and there’s no reason Rossi couldn’t be.”
There’s 100 reasons why neither of them should’ve been great at their respective ages, that’s why we love watching them. I don’t see Rossi going that long. He’ll stop when he no longer finds it rewarding.
I think that Biaggi found his last year rewarding…
To the best of my memory there has never been a WSBK World champion that moved to MotoGP and became a World champion, but there are many who tried their hand at MotoGP , failed to win a championship but were successful at winning World championships in WSBK.
There are only a handful of riders that are capable of winning MotoGP championships every decade. Quite the select crowd.
Rossi may not be the GOAt, but if he’s not, he’s in the top 2.
Not WSBK but Nicky Hayden won AMA SBK prior to winning a MotoGP championship, but he’s a clear exception.
It has to be said that almost all riders’ fortunes have been tied directly to the ride they land in MotoGP in the 4-stroke era. There have been many supremely talented riders who never got a real shot for not having the most competitive equipment (Full factory Honda or Yamaha). Stoner has been the only one to buck that trend on a Ducati.
Riders that are on factory machines earned those rides, and the most talented or perceived most talented earn those rides when the top riders retire or lose their rides. Riders like Dovisioso, Simoncelli, Crutchlow etc earned satellite rides and moved into factory rides when the premier riders vacated their positions. Thats how it works. the best riders, earn the best rides, and then become very hard to beat. When satellite riders start hitting the podium on a regular basis, or finishing close to being on the podium on a regular basis, they are next in line for a factory slot that opens. You can’t say a guy didn’t do well because he wasn’t on a factory bike when he never earned the right to that ride in the first place.
maybe in his mind there no more thing that the next race…
if he is still enjoying the game I cannot but get envious.
I do really hope my work related communications are better than my forum post ones…
Just cross your fingers that Bocker doesn’t get this far