Valentino Rossi is not yet retired, but given what he has already accomplished during his career, we can take stock of his work. An exercise that leads us to go beyond statistics and rankings. We consider here what the champion has generally given back to the paddock which has given him a lot. And on this level, the Doctor suffers from no rival according to Pol Espargaró. By that I mean Vale is the biggest…
115 victories and nine world titles. For now, Valentino Rossi holds the top spot among drivers in the modern era of Grands Prix. In front of him, there is only Giacomo Agostini while, behind, the silhouette of a Marc Márquez Asked 82 achievements and eight titles, at 27 years old. Certainly, but is it only by this yardstick that we should measure the greatness of a competitor?
Pol Espargaro, the official KTM, remember that no. In comments reported by GP One it develops : " so far I put him in first place, because he has the titles record. Until Marc said “I did it” ". But… " Rossi will continue to be the greatest, without needing to win more titles. I think Valentino did for motorcycles what Nieto did for them in Spain, but in his case it's on a global scale. He made MotoGP a powerful brand. »
And he has attracted many fans, which can sometimes not be positive… “ Valentino has fans all over the world. In Barcelona, Marc should be the driver with the most fans and Valentino the one with the most detractors, but this is not the case,” he stressed. “People love Valentino and the Montmeló circuit is full of yellow flags. »
« By this I mean that the greatest driver is not the one with the most titles but the one who has managed to move the greatest number of people, which is what Valentino has been doing for many years. He was the pioneer and genius of marketing, whether it was colors, flags or celebrations. It attracted a lot of fans, which is good, but also hooligans, which is not so good. » One last remark that deserves to be explored…
