Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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46 the years whereas Rossi would usually be at or near the front of the pack. Then came Casey Stoner. The diminutive Aussie was the first rider to properly stick it to Rossi, walking away with the 2007 MotoGP title in a fashion Rossi had never experienced before. For the first time ever, someone had done to Rossi what he'd consistently done to everyone else. The 2008 season was thus a cracker, as Rossi used all his guile to defeat champion Stoner in what I think was his best sea- son. Who could forget Laguna Seca 2008? I'm sure I don't have to remind you of the result, but if you want to see heavyweight boxing on motorcycles, YouTube the race. Not only was Stoner now here, so was Lorenzo, and he really got under Rossi's skin. So much so the Italian demanded a wall down the center of the Yamaha garage to stop any information going to his young Spanish teammate. Lorenzo didn't care and forced Rossi into a leg-breaking mistake during practice for the 2010 Ital- ian Grand Prix. None of us knew it at the time, but this point would be the beginning of the long, slow decline from the top for the great Italian. Calling Yamaha's bluff, Rossi took his bat and ball and spent two dismal years at Ducati before putting his tail between his legs and trudging back to what was very much now Lorenzo's factory Yamaha team. That move alone showed the popularity of the man, because if any other rider had two years of results like he did on the Ducati, there's no way he'd be given a factory Yamaha seat. However, his return to Yamaha coincided with the arrival of the man who would finally make Rossi snap, Marc Marquez. Rossi and Marc initially got along well, often joking and laughing post-race, but when the spark reignited in the old man in 2015 and a 10th World title was a very real possibility, things got nasty. Argentina, 2015. Marquez crashes after Rossi catches him and wins the race. Assen, 2015. Marquez tries a desperate last- corner attack, wedging himself on Rossi's inside which causes Rossi to bolt through the gravel trap and roar to victory. Then, the mighty four-way battle at Phillip Island, won by Marquez after one of the great- est last laps in history. Rossi's brain-snap followed the next race in Malaysia, inex- plicably outing Marquez in the pre-race press conference as helping Lorenzo to the title, even though Marquez passed Lorenzo on the final lap in Australia to steal five precious points off his countryman. Marquez, incensed at this outburst, did indeed make a right nuisance of himself in the Ma- laysian race. We all know what happened there. It was a dark hour for the sport, where egos on both sides ran rampant and no one emerged the winner—ex- cept Lorenzo. In more recent times, Rossi's shown great humility by bringing forth a generation of talented young Italian riders through the VR46 Academy, riders that will keep the country in good Mo- toGP stead for many years to come. Rossi genuinely cares for the sport, and I hope the Acad- emy gets opened up to riders outside Italy so they too can experience Academy life. Rossi's presence in the pad- dock is towering. His business practices and acumen have made him a fortune the likes of which will take a few generations to spend, and he is as close to a god in Italy as Christ himself. I'll miss Rossi on the world stage, but the fact is he left a while ago. The Rossi I knew was always in contention for a podi- um or a win, not circulating at the tail-end of the points like now. Be that as it may, his impact on the sport will never be matched, not by anyone, because it's a time and place thing, a bit like The Beatles or Michael Jordan. My greatest memory of Rossi will, like many, be of Catalu- nya 2009. I've lost count of the number of times I've watched the last three laps on YouTube, and that last-lap, last-corner pass on Lorenzo remains, in my mind, the ballsiest, gnarliest pass I've ever seen. That moment was pure Val- entino Rossi. Audacious, outra- geous, arrogant, lovable, iconic. There'll never be one like him again. Ciao, Vale, grazie mille! CN P122 CN III LOWSIDE