Ahead of the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, the 7th round of the 2014 championship, 9-times world champion Valentino Rossi was interviewed by the Spanish broadcaster Movistar TV, and he was asked for details related to the way he sees his future in the racing world.
Always open and merry as we know him, the Doctor was quite happy to speak about both his past and his future. Of the 9 world titles, he believes the most important was the 2008 one, after a fierce battle with Casey Stoner, a victory few people believed he could claw. Still, Rossi remembers his 2001 500GP title and the first championship he won aboard Yamaha machinery. The Italian rider is not shy to admit that him being able to ride the last 500cc two-stroke motorcycles and being the final victor of that MotoGP era feels amazing. And with those bikes being real pieces of history and tied to names such as Doohan, Schwantz or Rainey, things are even better.
Rossi, 35, does not look like an old rider, and neither does he think like one, even though he knows having spent 19 seasons racing meant quite a lot of time. He also says that the mental strength is probably the hardest thing to keep after all these years, even though at his age, maintaining proper physical shape is not an easy task either.
However, Rossi has big plans, and one of them is reaching the 200-podium mark. He counts 187 podiums to date, with a whopping 151 of them in the premier class, and more than half of them (80) being victories. He knows that he has to do his best if he wants to better these statistics, and this also involves beating his team mate Jorge Lorenzo and even the defending champion Marc Marquez. Yet the Doctor is not shy of saying that he will definitely try to claw his 10th world title, hopefully with Yamaha, even though this objective may be out of hand this year.
Marquez is currently leading the world standing with 6 victories in as many races and a perfect 150 points score. Rossi is second with 97 points and rather mathematical chances of beating the Honda rider. That would mean Rossi winning almost all the remaining rounds, and closing in the gap 5 points at a time, crashes and injuries left out of this discussion.
While having Rossi aiming so high and riding better by the round will definitely make the 2014 MotoGP championship more exciting, it’s really awesome to see him with such a determined mind frame and openly willing to carry on with Yamaha. Honestly, I guess Lin Jarvis is smiling now…
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