“We liked each other, we fought, we then made up”: Valentino Rossi on his friendly rivalry with Jorge Lorenzo
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Valentino Rossi
Valentino Rossi is one of the biggest names in the history of Moto GP, if not the biggest one. With a career spanning from 1996 to 2021, Valentino Rossi has managed to win nine world championship titles. All of those nine came during the first half of his career than spanned from 1997 to 2009 which basically means that he won 9 titles in 13 years.
The four seasons that he did not win the championship were in 1998 which was Rossi’s first season in the 250 class and then in 2000 which was his debut season in the 500 class. Then he missed out on the championship in 2006 and 2007 when he, in his Yamaha was clearly upstaged by Nichy Hayden and Casey Stoner respectively.
In 2008, Rossi did a comeback again and managed to win the championship ahead of the Australian Casey Stoner. Then in 2009 Rossi won his final world championship after beating his new teammate Jorge Lorenzo, someone who would then go on to beat Rossi the following year. 2010 was the turning point in the career of Rossi as his injuries forced him out of the game and he could never really come back from that.
Valentino Rossi opens up about the turning point in his career
Rossi told L’Equipe “First I broke my leg at Mugello, but then above all two months later I dislocated my shoulder. From there it became more difficult and I was no longer able to win the title.”
In his long career, Rossi has faced many opponents. But when asked to choose the best amongst his opponent. Rossi did not even take a minute to answer. He said, “In the first part of my career I really enjoyed battling with Biaggi. I haven’t always beaten him on the track, but I’ve always finished ahead of him in the championship. With Lorenzo it was different. I gave a shot, then a shot came from him. I left Yamaha because of him and when I got back he was still there. We liked each other, we fought, we then made up. Let’s say we were a couple of somewhat fiery lovers.”
It is definitely a matter of honour for the Majorcan to be selected as the best opponent that Valentino Rossi, the legend himself, faced.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)