VOL. 51 ISSUE 11 MARCH 18, 2014 P139
With nowhere else to climb,
Rossi artificially upped the de-
gree of difficulty just to keep him-
self from growing bored. He fled
the all-power Honda squad and
promptly transformed Yamaha's
then-flagging effort into a power-
house in its own right. He subse-
quently racked up four more Mo-
toGP crowns, upping his world
title tally to nine in all.
No rider has as many com-
bined GP podiums (183) or has
earned championships on as
many different displacements
of machinery (125cc, 250cc,
500cc, 990cc, 800cc). Rossi
has proven capable of riding
just about anything, success-
fully adapting his approach to
suit both small two-strokes to
big-displacement fours, and
untamable sideways monsters
along with electronically-precise
technological marvels. It's hard
to imagine that Rossi would have
been anything but great in any
era, and that's not something you
can automatically assume about
his more recent rivals, riders he
once dubbed "the traction con-
trol generation."
And Rossi stands alone as the
winningest 500GP/MotoGP rid-
er in history with 80 premier-class
victories to his name, among nu-
merous other distinctions.
And as remarkable as his sta-
tistics may be, Rossi has never
simply been a summation of
numbers. His style and charm,
combined with his skills, have
forever changed the sport. Rossi
is a racecraft magician and can
be the most cutthroat rider on the
track when he needs to be. He's
also able to flash a smile at the
camera following any on-track
clash and make his victim appear
to be the villain.
Rossi is more than motorcy-
cle racing standout -- he is also
mainstream celebrity icon. His
mere presence attracts unprece-
dented attention to the paddock,
which has elevated the status of
his rivals in a trickledown fashion.
How can Rossi be considered
anything but the 'Greatest of All
Time'? Well…
Rossi won three championships for
the Repsol Honda team, including
one on the 500cc machine.
YES
A couple tough years on the
much-maligned Ducati Des-
mosedici and a mixed return to
his beloved Yamaha M1 while in
his mid-thirties does not change
what Valentino Rossi accom-
plished when at the peak of his
prowess.
Nobody cares that Johnny
Unitas closed out his career as a
backup for the San Diego Char-
gers and few will remember a
grounded Michael 'Air' Jordan in
a Washington Wizards uniform.
In the same way, Valentino Rossi
could race around at the back of
the pack until he turned 50, but
that would still not take away from
the vast assortment of triumphs
taken during his extensive glory
years.
Let's consider just a small
sampling of those achievements.
Rossi won at least one Grand Prix
in each of his first 15 seasons at
the world championship level and
never required more than a single
learning year before conquering
a class. He took the 125cc title
in his second season ('97), the
250cc title his second time out in
the class ('99), and finally 500GP
in 2001, again in his second at-
tempt.
The following year, the beast-
ly 500cc two-strokes were re-
placed with stomping 990cc Mo-
toGP machines, and Rossi didn't
miss a beat, flat-out dominating
to claim another premier-class
title. And then another.
