        It won&rsquo;t be a normal race weekend for Valentino Rossi who, after Thursday&rsquo;s emotional press conference, has struggled in today&rsquo;s practices. And yet the Doctor remains positive at the end of day one, believing that the potential is there if the track improves. The nine-time champion touches on many subjects, praising his Academy riders and paying tribute to Giampiero Galeazzi, who has died at 75. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s impossible I think, but if the riders wanted to give me a podium, I&rsquo;d be very happy, because the 200th podium is very important, I&rsquo;d even pay them something. But I don&rsquo;t think it will happen&rdquo;. This is Valentino Rossi&rsquo;s response to rumours circulating in the paddock with regard to a possible &lsquo;gift&rsquo; from the other riders, with them letting him by to reach the podium in his last races. A scenario that the Doctor plays down, but doesn't rule out entirely. Today&rsquo;s practices haven&rsquo;t been easy for Rossi, who currently lies in last place: "The conditions weren&rsquo;t easy this morning. Things were a little better this afternoon, the track was drier, but I didn&rsquo;t get on well in either condition. I&rsquo;ve always struggled at Valencia. I hope the track continues to improve, I&rsquo;m not fast but I think with a dry track, our potential can be a little better. We&rsquo;re all very closer, with less of a gap I was sixteenth at Portimao, this is MotoGP now, the riders are ready for every track and the bikes are all very similar.&rdquo; Asked how he thinks he might go in today&rsquo;s MotoGP if he were Quartararo&rsquo;s age, Rossi replies: "The period in which I was strongest was probably between 2001 and 2005, so I think if I was 20 and riding these bikes, I&rsquo;d be battling for the win&rdquo;. Rossi is now looking to pass the baton: "My ideal successor? The Academy guys"  It&rsquo;s often been said that finding a worthy successor to the nine-time champion will be a real challenge, although the Italian believes that his natural heirs are the Academy riders: "My ideal successor would be all the Academy guys, from Migno to those currently in MotoGP, like Pecco for example, who&rsquo;s been so strong this year&rdquo;. Rossi then moves on to Vietti, very strong in Moto2 in recent times: "Vietti is a very fast rider with real talent. He struggled more than I thought in moving up to Moto2, but now he&rsquo;s going really well, like he&rsquo;s learned how to ride the Moto2. He&rsquo;s always top five and I think he can fight to win next year. He&rsquo;s very talented even if he has a bit of a difficult character at times&rdquo;. Lastly, a tribute to Giampiero Galeazzi: "Galeazzi became a legend, commenting on the Abbagnale brothers&rsquo; success in canoeing. He made me laugh, I remember his Savino impressions on Radio Deejay. I&rsquo;m really sorry to hear he has passed". Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Biaggi: &ldquo;As Rossi retires, it&rsquo;s as if I were retiring&rdquo;       

Ahead of his last MotoGP race, Valentino Rossi is ready to bid farewell to the world championship, but first he wants to give it his best shot at Valencia, despite a tough start in practice

MotoGP Valencia, Valentino Rossi: “I’d pay the riders for a 200th podium”

        The final chapter in Valentino Rossi&rsquo;s racing career is upon us, Thursday at Valencia taking on a special, unique flavour. Valentino has held his last press conference as a MotoGP rider, and there was no shortage of emotion. And this was before #46 even entered the room, considering the nostalgic display of all the bikes with which Valentino has won world titles, with Rossi front and centre of course. &ldquo;I have the Yamahas and the Aprilias at home, an M1 in the bedroom&rdquo;, comments a smiling Vale, &ldquo;but to see them all together is moving. It gets me thinking about the journey, considering that another 12 years have passed since the last of these bikes. I&rsquo;ve asked Alberto (Puig) for the Hondas, at least the 500. This one here is the very one I should have got from Honda &ndash; I&rsquo;d already decided where to put it back home, so I promise to take care of it if I get it&rdquo;. There is a touch of sadness in all this, but not for Rossi, who confirms that the worst is behind him. &ldquo;The worst moment was when I decided to stop. In June, I told myself I&rsquo;d continue if I was still quick, but considering the circumstances, I had to stop. Now I&rsquo;ll try to focus on the racing, as that&rsquo;s essential and I want a positive final weekend. I hope the weather helps us, especially on Sunday. What will happen after the race? I don&rsquo;t know, I hope I don&rsquo;t cry. I realised three or four months ago that Sunday&rsquo;s date adds up to 46: it wasn&rsquo;t easy to convince God (he laughs)". In making the announcement, Rossi understood many things. &ldquo;After Austria, I started to really understand everything I&rsquo;ve done over the years. Before I was looking at it from inside a tunnel, like all riders, but then I took a step back and was able to see the context. Now that I can see it, I feel very proud". Rossi: "I don&rsquo;t have any dream right now, mine was to become MotoGP champion&rdquo;  The 2021 season then continued to play out without any real surprises, bringing us all the way up to the present day, one that Valentino has imagined many times. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s been a strange season, particularly after I made the retirement announcement. I would have liked it to be as normal as possible but that wasn't possible. After the announcement, I received many messages from so many riders, past and present, which was wonderful. I&rsquo;ve thought a lot about this conference at Valencia. Everyone&rsquo;s usually happy at the last race because the holidays are just around the corner, but for me life will be different come Monday. I want to appreciate the moment, and then I&rsquo;ll think about the future. Dreams? Mine was to become MotoGP champion, so I don&rsquo;t have any right now&rdquo;. There is also chance to consider the legacy that Rossi leaves, both on and particularly off the track. &ldquo;The best thing relating to my career is the fact that so many people started to watch or got more interested in MotoGP because of me. I became a kind of icon over the years, which is lovely. For a rider what happens on track counts for a lot, but this is the most incredible thing&rdquo;. #46 has no regrets, if not perhaps that&nbsp;elusive tenth title. &ldquo;I tried to win a tenth title. I was racing well after the ninth, and came close to a tenth in 2015, but it wasn&rsquo;t possible. Apart from that, I have no regrets, also because nine often comes up in my life &ndash; I have like a curse relating to the number nine that I&rsquo;d prefer not to have. When I scored podium number 199 at Jerez, I thought it would be the last, although I wanted to reach 200. I&rsquo;ve had a lot of fun anyway&rdquo;. In any case, the future will soon metaphorically brush the present aside, for both Rossi and for MotoGP, which will clearly have to rebuild. &ldquo;MotoGP will carry on. Perhaps it won&rsquo;t be exactly the same thing, but it&rsquo;ll continue and there will still be #46 caps. I&rsquo;ll come to some races, mainly to support the Academy guys, but it will be different, that&rsquo;s for sure. I don&rsquo;t know if I&rsquo;ll enjoy it or not, I&rsquo;ll let you know&rdquo;. Translated by Heather Watson MotoGP, Pol Espargar&oacute; speaks out: the Yamaha promises and the 2014 error       

Valentino has held his last press conference as an active rider: "The worst moment was when I decided to stop. To see all my bikes is moving, but I&rsquo;d like the 500 at home"

GP Valencia, Rossi: “I'm pleased to have developed MotoGP”

Nello scorso weekend di Portimao si &egrave; parlato tantissimo della presenza di Casey Stoner nel paddock del Motomondiale. Una visita, quella dell&rsquo;australiano, che ha fatto piacere a tutti gli addetti ai lavori, in particolare agli uomini Ducati.  MotoGP: Marc Marquez fuori dal GP di Valencia e dai test di Jerez  Bagnaia: &ldquo;Casey sarebbe fondamentale&quot;   Infatti, Pecco Bagnaia non ha nascosto la sua stima nei confronti del due volte campione del mondo: &ldquo;Stiamo parlando di Casey Stoner, cio&egrave;, il pi&ugrave; grande di tutti con Ducati, capace di vincere con la Rossa, uno dei migliori al mondo. Per noi lui sarebbe fondamentale come coach. In questo weekend mi &egrave; stato utile su come affrontare l&#39;ultima curva, il suo approccio mi piace&rdquo; aveva dichiarato il vincitore del GP Algarve dopo la pole di sabato.  Parla Ciabatti   Ma il desiderio di avere Stoner nel box sembra destinato a rimanere tale: lo ha spiegato Paolo Ciabatti ai microfoni del sito ufficiale MotoGP.  &ldquo;Si &egrave; parlato molto di Casey e sicuramente ha aiutato molto i nostri piloti con le sue analisi, dando alcuni ottimi consigli - ha raccontato il Direttore Sportivo Ducati Corse - &Egrave; sempre bello avere un campione e amico come Stoner nel box, ma il merito (dei risultati, ndr) va sempre a Pecco e Jack per il loro talento&rdquo;.  &ldquo;Averlo con noi nel 2022? Ci piacerebbe, ma non credo che spostarsi in Europa rientri nei suoi piani. Casey ha una famiglia, due figli piccoli, che rappresentano la sua priorit&agrave;. Sar&agrave; con noi a Valencia: speriamo ci porti fortuna anche l&igrave;&rdquo; ha concluso Ciabatti, spegnendo quasi totalmente ogni speranza dei ducatisti.  Dal calcio all&#39;atletica, l&#39;Italia trionfa ovunque nel 2021... tranne che in MotoGP 

Gli uomini di Borgo Panigale, Francesco Bagnaia su tutti, vorrebbero l&#39;ex pilota australiano come presenza fissa nel box nel 2022: lo Sporting Director di Ducati Corse ha spiegato quali sono gli ostacoli che rendono difficile l&#39;operazione

MotoGP, Stoner come coach Ducati? Ciabatti: &ldquo;Ci piacerebbe, ma...&rdquo;

        Valentino Rossi&rsquo;s world championship &lsquo;farewell&rsquo;, which will come at the final Valencia round, could be a triumphant one. It was never going to be anything less of course, but it now looks as if Spain is set to welcome back full-capacity audiences at its stadiums and circuits as of October. And if this were the case, it would mean that the Valencia GP, scheduled to run on 12-14 November, could see packed-out grandstands. Pandemic under control with rules that are changing  And this is what we&rsquo;re all hoping for of course, not only in Spain and Portugal, where plans are already afoot, but also in Italy. If the statement made by the Spanish Health Minister comes to fruition, the Doctor&rsquo;s final round could play out on front of a &lsquo;full house&rsquo;. To date, the tickets sold for the three-day event make up just 50% of total capacity, but if the rules were to change, this could rise to 100%. A &ldquo;yellow tide&rdquo; ready to take over Ricardo Tormo  The situation relating to Covid-19 is currently under control in Spain, with a seven-day average of 27.5, lower than Germany. The new regulations that will come in as of October will see football stadiums return to 100% capacity, while indoor events will be allowed a maximum capacity of 80%. All we can do is cross our fingers and hope that the pandemic continues to wane. If Valencia is able to welcome the number of spectators it enjoyed in pre-Covid times, then we&rsquo;re sure that the &lsquo;yellow tide&rsquo; will be quick to invade Ricardo Tormo. Translated by Heather Watson Americas GP, Rossi: &ldquo;Austin? We had a fantastic weekend last time&rdquo;       

The situation regarding Covid-19 in Spain is gradually improving, with stadiums looking to welcome back full capacity audiences by October. And this also relates to the final MotoGP round

MotoGP: Valencia set to be a sell out for Rossi’s last race

        The most spectacular and at the same time worrying images to come out of the Valencia weekend were undoubtedly those depicting Alex Marquez&rsquo;s crash, as he suffered a high side with his RC213V during the qualifying session of the penultimate round. The youngest Marquez brother fell to the ground with a force of 23.6G although the impact fortunately didn&rsquo;t result in physical injury, the rider able to race on Sunday despite the incident.             Visualizza questo post su Instagram  Un post condiviso da MotoGP (@motogp)      The Alpinestars' data  The Italian firm, supplier to both Marquez brothers and many other MotoGP riders, has published data relating to Alex&rsquo;s high side during Q1. Marquez&rsquo;s suit airbag opened two tenths after he left the bike and 710 milliseconds before he hit the ground. In other words, Alex was in the air for almost one second, 910 milliseconds to be precise, and rolled along the ground for 2.3 seconds. &nbsp;Alex Marquez&rsquo;s comment  The Cervera rider shared the Alpinestars data to his Twitter profile so that his followers could see the stats.  Ouuchh  https://t.co/PEiOmeF5g3 &mdash; Alex M&aacute;rquez (@alexmarquez73) November 16, 2020    Translated by Heather Watson Career at risk for Marquez? Dr. Costa: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to consider it, but...&rdquo;       

The Italian firm that manufactures most of the MotoGP riders&rsquo; leather suits has revealed data regarding the Spaniard&rsquo;s Q1 crash at Valencia

MotoGP Valencia GP: Alex Marquez’s crash as illustrated by Alpinestars

Indiavolato s&igrave;, ma ne confronti di s&eacute; stesso. Cos&igrave; &egrave; apparso Fabio Quartararo nel finale di un campionato MotoGP 2020 che sembrava un affare tutto suo. Lo aveva promesso lui l&rsquo;anno scorso, l&rsquo;aveva promesso sempre lui, ad inizio stagione. Il Rookie of the Year 2019 ha cominciato con doppia inforcata letale, inflitta agli avversari nella trasferta andalusa post lockdown.  Uscito Marc Marquez di scena, il francese stava - lo abbiamo capito pi&ugrave; tardi - illudendo tifosi e dirigenti STR Petronas, che speravano in una impresa mondiale possibile, perch&eacute; Quartararo ha comandato sino al Gran Premio di Europa. Valencia &egrave; risultata fatale al numero 20, che in sette giorni ha perso testa, leadership ed un alloro pregustato da mesi.  Il rendimento di El Diablo e della M1 color verde acqua - nero &egrave; stato altalenante, certo, per&ograve; il ragazzo di Nizza esce sconfitto e con la magra consolazione di aver ottenuto, sinora, il maggior numero di successi: tre. Questo pesa ancor di pi&ugrave; sulle sue spalle, evidentemente non troppo forti e capienti quando si tratta di gestire la pressione impressa da squadra, sponsor, dirigenti e rivali.&nbsp;  Lo stesso numero di gradini pi&ugrave; alti lo ha colto Franco Morbidelli, compagno di garage. A differenza di Fabio, l&#39;italo-brasilero non ha palesato agitazione e tensione, anzi, era il Mordibo a tranquillizzare l&#39;ambiente. Eppure, lui aveva una M1 2019 e nessuna futura (per il momento) investitura factory.    Valencia maledetta   Al Ricardo Tormo, Quarta ne ha combinate sino all&rsquo;esagerazione. Errori in prova, distrazioni in qualifica, lunghi e cadute - doppie - in gara. Come fa a vincere il titolo un pilota che pensa pi&ugrave; ai limiti della moto e non ai vantaggi che offre? Lo stesso atteggiamento espresso da Vinales e Rossi, in pratica.  Impossibile, la storia lo insegna. Sappiamo che il corridore, per antonomasia, esiga la perfezione. Ma egli stesso sa che la perfezione non esista, anzi. Lottare in un gioco di compromessi, sul filo del rasoio. Questa &egrave; la MotoGP, chiedete a Valentino Rossi.  Quando si trattava di gestire, Fabio ha sbagliato e, come Maverick Vinales, si &egrave; innervosito. Il catalano &egrave; lunatico, non &egrave; una novit&agrave;. Il transalpino rischia di copiarlo. Sarebbe meglio di no, dato che il prossimo anno i due gareggeranno per la stessa formazione. Sapete che lamentele...  Eppure, la Yamaha &egrave; la MotoGP pi&ugrave; vincente della griglia   Facciamo una somma dei successi totalizzati ad oggi dai rappresentanti di Iwata. Quartararo, come detto, &egrave; a quota 3: Jerez, Jerez e Barcellona. Franco Morbidelli stesso score: Misano, Arag&ograve;n e Valencia. Maverick Vinales uno solo, a Misano due. Valentino Rossi &egrave; mestamente fermo a zero, per un suo anno orribile.   Comunque, la cifra &egrave; sette. Mica male, in un campionato cos&igrave; corto (ma intenso). Anche perch&eacute; le altre Case sono &ldquo;ferme&rdquo; pi&ugrave; in basso. Ducati due - Dovi e Petrux, una vittoria a testa tra Austria e Francia - KTM ne ha due, Suzuki anche. Resta un appuntamento alla fine e nessuno pu&ograve; raggiungere Yamaha.    Cosa viene da pensare? Facile: la M1 &egrave; la miglior MotoGP. Non ne saremmo convinti nemmeno noi se ascoltassimo i commenti dei piloti, tranne quelli sempre super positivi del Morbido, quest&rsquo;anno soave come una nuvola. Facciamo ordine: se vince una Yamaha &egrave; merito dei piloti - dicono loro - se non vince, demerito della M1 - sempre parole loro - qualcosa non torna. Tranne di Franco, che &egrave; superiore a certi discorsi.  Ecco cosa. La serenit&agrave; manca. Uno stravolgimento degli equilibri condizionato dal rimescolare di carte iniziale ha messo pressione addosso a chi, forse, non era pronto a sopportare.   Proprio Quarta, promosso ufficiale da mesi, come se gi&agrave; ad Iwata sapessero di aver trovato un sostituto di Rossi (quello buono) e di Lorenzo (altrettanto buono). Non &egrave; cos&igrave;, perlomeno non ancora. Fabio &egrave; un gran bel manico, ma che ha bastonato s&eacute; stesso. Se l&rsquo;anno scorso correva tranquillo e con relative responsabilit&agrave;, adesso il trend &egrave; mutato. In peggio, se guardiamo la sua espressione. Tutti sbagliano, ma perseverare &egrave; diabolico. El Diablo ha frustato sul proprio corpo. Passare da leader della MotoGP a quinto in un attimo &egrave; uno crollo mai visto prima nella top class.  Morbidelli, perch&eacute; non ufficiale?   Lecita domanda, chi vuole rispondere? Sappiamo che Valentino andr&agrave; in Petronas al posto Quartararo, e che Fabio salir&agrave; in Monster Energy. Perch&eacute; il francese e non Franco? &ldquo;Eh, ma la moto 2019 funziona meglio della 2020&rdquo;. Chi lo sostiene? Non &egrave; vero, abbiamo precisato che la nuova M1 conti quattro affermazioni, mentre la &ldquo;vecchia&rdquo; tre. No no.  Ve lo diciamo noi perch&eacute; l&#39;italo-brasiliano meriterebbe pi&ugrave; attenzione. Morbido ha vinto gi&agrave; un titolo in Moto2, o meglio due se contiamo anche quello in Stock600, e sa sopportare tensioni di quel tipo. Quarta no. Maverick s&igrave; in Moto3, anche se pare non sempre lo ricordi. Joan Mir s&igrave;, addirittura due pure lui ragazzi, e quest&rsquo;anno se &egrave; ricordato bene. Pi&ugrave; che bene.  Jorge Lorenzo &egrave; maiorchino come Mir e si congratula con Joan, nuovo campione MotoGP 

Il francese sembrava il successore designato di Marc Marquez, invece, gli errori commessi hanno superato il suo indiscutibile talento. Il numero 20 &egrave; passato in poche gare da leader a quinto e Franco Morbidelli sta facendo meglio

6 risultati per 'Valencia GP'

MotoGP Valencia, Valentino Rossi: “I’d pay the riders for a 200th podium”

GP Valencia, Rossi: “I'm pleased to have developed MotoGP”

MotoGP, Stoner come coach Ducati? Ciabatti: “Ci piacerebbe, ma...”

MotoGP: Valencia set to be a sell out for Rossi’s last race

MotoGP Valencia GP: Alex Marquez’s crash as illustrated by Alpinestars

MotoGP: Fabio Quartararo, il diavolo che ha frustato sé stesso