VOLUME 57 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 6, 2020 P113
and surely going to grab podium
number 200.
Then a second race in a row
showed that this tallest of tall
poppies was feeling the breeze.
He crashed.
It's one thing being down with
the kids. Not so easy keeping up
with them.
There really are two sides to
this extraordinary racer.
There is the tireless genius
who radiates the joy of racing,
still competitive after all these
years, the longest-serving top-
level grand prix rider in 70 years
of history, and easily the oldest
on the grid.
Then there is flawed Rossi,
outrun by the youngsters who
repeatedly deny him that long-
awaited fresh podium, let alone
a 90th class win. Still seven
short of Agostini's 122 wins in all
classes, his chances of breaking
that record are steadily dwin-
dling.
There is the ageless crafts-
man, who can go as fast as
anybody, with a unique under-
standing of tires, chassis and
suspension. The breadth of his
knowledge is unmatched.
But tiding pillion is the old
dog who struggles to learn new
tricks.
There is Yamaha's indispens-
able ambassador, his image so
strong and so inextricably linked
with the marque that they daren't
jeopardize the relationship.
Then there's the rider who
won't go away, who hogs a
factory bike they might secretly
prefer to give to somebody with
a future rather than a past.
For the Petronas SRT team,
he's the man who nurtured one
of the two riders who have given
them race wins, fulfilling the aim
to foster new talent and feed
the factory team, and cement-
ing the new squad's status. But
now he's the man preventing
them from finding and promoting
another newcomer.
He is the Miss Havisham of
MotoGP, even if he is still some
distance from crouching over
a cobweb-festooned wedding
cake.
But he is also the Peter Pan—
eternally youthful, and a shining
light to the lost boys, who can be
found circulating the dirt track at
his VR46 Academy.
Sport must always refresh
itself with new talent, which must
always exceed the achievements
of those who came before. This
is the nature of evolution, and it
is also why Valentino has beaten
Marquez just 18 times in the 127
races since the young feller's
arrival in 2013.
By the same token, should
Marquez prolong his own career
in the same way as Rossi, it will
happen to him, too. Perhaps
even sooner. This is something
to be borne in mind by rid-
ers who might feel inspired by
Rossi's remarks last weekend,
that "maybe I can show other
riders you don't have to stop just
because you are getting older."
But then who is like Valentino?
Who can pull off a feat that so
many in the past have found im-
possible … to preserve not only
the enjoyment of racing, but to
do so at the level of intensity re-
quired at the very highest level?
This is a very special trick.
Evolution go hang. Thank god
Valentino's not going yet.
Racing just wouldn't be the
same without him. CN
THIS IS
SOMETHING TO
BE BORNE IN
MIND BY RIDERS
WHO MIGHT
FEEL INSPIRED
BY ROSSI'S
REMARKS LAST
WEEKEND, THAT
"MAYBE I CAN
SHOW OTHER
RIDERS YOU
DON'T HAVE
TO STOP JUST
BECAUSE YOU
ARE GETTING
OLDER."
