Record numbers
These are important numbers, of course, as it should be pointed out that in 26 seasons he has won 115 victories and 235 podiums and 65 pole positions. But the numbers, when it comes to Valentino Rossi, say and do not say. You just get lost. How do you get lost in remembering his opponents: he had too many, starting with Max Biaggi and ending with Jorge Lorenzo. The numbers do not say, for example, how much “the Doctor” has changed and conditioned the history of his sport. Before him, despite the feats of Giacomo Agostini, and even before Pasolini and Provini, motorcycling was still a niche sport. He was very popular in Emilia Romagna, in the Marches, in the lands of motors, but he did not have that aggregative and media capacity that he then had with Valentino. A bit like in the Eighties with Alberto Tomba in skiing, and before with Adriano Panatta in tennis, Valentino Rossi himself became the traveling ambassador of motorcycling. With him everyone learned what a “paddock” is, what it means to “detach”, “open”, “drift”. What was an industry sport, the unlucky brother of Formula One, with Valentino has become the most incredible show in the world. Pure fun, ruthless competition, breathtaking curves, heart attack overtaking. Is there MotoGP today? Well, everyone in front of the TV. Followed by those extraordinary shouted and passionate commentaries. With all due respect to Formula One which almost always, apart from when Ferrari wins (goes), is more boring than a film by an Iranian director.
A right choice
Luckily Valentino gave him a cut. It was unbearable to see him plod like a mediocre Monday driver. With these wild kids competing for the finish line by falling and getting up as if they were made of rubber and he, the great Valentino, forced to return to the pits. At 42, you can no longer play the eternal Peter Pan of sport. It was beautiful, beautiful, but now do something else. If you invent something, fantasy has to sell. He says he would like to race in Formula One, which has always been one of his life’s wishes. Well, we don’t know. We can talk about it. It is nice to be able to think, imagine, that it is unique even in the great leap from two to four wheels. But they are no longer the heroic times, those of Tazio Nuvolari or John Surtees. Those in which audacity and glance were enough. Here, too, specialization prevails. Recycling at 42 won’t be easy. Better to stay in his environment, do well what he has always been able to do very well: the communicator.
Also unique in the image
Yes, because the pilot from Tavullia is also a great communicator. One that pierces the image. A great influencer even before there were social networks. He has followers all over the world. One click or his “like” moves mountains. It is no coincidence that in 2005 he received an honorary degree in communication and advertising from the University of Urbino. When asked why they called him “Doctor”, he replied: “In Italy it is said that you are a” doctor “when you are very good at doing something. It’s a joking way of saying that you are someone who matters. ”A perfect synthesis. In fact, Valentino was nicknamed “The Doctor” when he began to emerge in the youth categories. He had intuition, sensitivity, he immediately understood what the problem was with a motorcycle. It takes ear to be a number one. Indeed a number 46. And Valentino never missed an ear.