The Roman rider recalls the 2004 Welkom GP won by his rival: “It’s an old rivalry, but it was beautiful”
The words you don’t expect. Max Biaggi pays tribute to his eternal rival Valentino Rossi by recalling one of the most beautiful MotoGP races in recent years, the 2004 South African GP, on 18 April 19 years ago. At Welkom the rider from Tavullia, who had just switched to Yamaha, won after a heart-pounding duel with the Roman on the Honda and against Gibernau, «the most beautiful success of my career» he said several times. 19 years have passed, the memory of Max is still very much alive.
What surprises are the relaxed tones, the nostalgia for a piece of life behind. «The rivalry with Valentino is old, but how much I miss it – wrote Biaggi on Instagram -. Today only beautiful things remain even if we literally hated it. Having been a Valentinian or a Biaggist now it doesn’t matter, but it was important that every enthusiast identified with one of us and through us learned to love a unique and incredibly exciting sport. What a beautiful story.”
These are the reflections of someone who only a few weeks earlier, speaking with Cattelan, had said that nothing had changed between him and Vale in so many years, that they don’t even say goodbye: «He’s not one of the first 5 to whom I would wish Christmas, not even in the top fifty». And again: «We were two idiots who waged war…».
Valentino in another recent interview had spoken of the Biaggi clash: «It was tough from the start. We’ve never been nice to each other. And then I arrived young and immediately started pissing him off, he was already a winner. It was a rivalry to the death.”
April 18, 2023 (change April 18, 2023 | 19:28)
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