MotoGP Styrian GP
Rossi: "I deserved" 10th grand prix title
Valentino Rossi has no career regrets ahead of his retirement from MotoGP at the end of 2021, but feels he “deserved” to win an elusive tenth grand prix world title.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Aug 11, 2021, 11:27 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
On Thursday at the Styrian Grand Prix, Rossi announced he would be retiring at the end of the current campaign – his 26th in grand prix racing.
The Italian legend will retire with a truly stunning career record, which includes nine world titles – seven of which coming in MotoGP – and a total of 115 victories.
Rossi came close to a record eighth premier class title and tenth overall in 2006 and in 2015, but narrowly missed out on both occasions, while his 139-point deficit in the 2021 standings means his hopes of winning the championship again have all but gone.
When asked if he had any regrets from his career, Rossi said he didn’t, but feels he was deserving of winning a tenth world title.
“Regrets about choice, sincerely I don’t have [any],” Rossi said.
“For example, racing with Ducati [in 2011 and 2012] was very difficult for me because we didn’t win, but anyway it was a great challenge.
“Italian rider on an Italian bike, if we were able to win, [it] can be historic, you know?
“I am a little bit sad to not win the tenth championship, but especially because I think I deserved it for my level and for my speed, and I lose two times in the last race, so I think that I deserved the 10, but anyway, it’s like this.
“But I think that I can’t complain about the result of my career.”
Read Also:
- Rossi: Racing for VR46 MotoGP team for one year ‘too risky’
- Why Rossi hasn’t overstayed his welcome in MotoGP
- MotoGP riders pay tribute to 'Michael Jordan of bikes' Valentino Rossi
Rossi was also asked what he thinks he’ll miss from his life as a MotoGP racer, with the Italian admitting he’ll be sad to lose “the athlete life” and the team working environment.
“I think that I will miss a lot the athlete life, so to wake up every morning and train for a target and to try to win,” he added.
“I like a lot this life. Number one I will miss riding a MotoGP bike because when you are on the track with a MotoGP bike it is a great emotion.
“Secondly, to work with the team, my team, starting from Thursday and try to fix all the details to be stronger and stronger.
“And work with the top level engineers, chief mechanics and data analysts and everything.
“And also, after that, I will also miss the feeling of Sunday morning, two hours before the start of the race where it is something that you don’t feel comfortable because you are scared but it is an emotion because you know at 2pm the race starts.
“I think these things will be harder to fix.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Styrian MotoGP: Nakagami tops FP1 as Pedrosa, Crutchlow return
Next article Styrian MotoGP: Savadori tops wet second practice for Aprilia
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
Latest news
Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
36 min
Franco Morbidelli on securing most coveted WSBK ride: 'Clearly Ducati has some trust in me'
"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?
DTM
DTM DTM
Hockenheim
1 h
"Not allowed, not made possible": Was BMW denied its title chance?
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 1 h
Max Verstappen: FAQ on his GTWC Europe debut
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
2 h
Pedro Acosta: "I'm going to Ducati to learn from Marc Marquez, not to beat him on same bike"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe