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MotoGP, Valentino Rossi and the 'fear' of change

The Doctor's analysis: "races like those at Phillip Island energise me, while doing what I don't enjoy drains me"

MotoGP: Valentino Rossi and the 'fear' of change

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There was a lot of talk yesterday about what Valentino said during a BT Sport interview. “I'm scared about retiring, I think life will become very boring" admitted the nine-time world champion. His words are hardly surprising. Rossi has been racing in the world championship for 22 years, not forgetting the earlier years spent in minor categories.

His life, quite simply, is built around bike and so it's quite normal for him to be worried about the day he'll no longer have all this. Sooner or later, it will be time to turn the page, and it will be painful. It will mean getting back on his feet, taking another path. It's a normal feeling, that anyone who has loved their job might feel as retirement draws closer.

But Valentino isn't exactly a normal person, he's one of the world's most famous sportsmen and one of the greatest ever motorcycle riders. He has won it all, he has money and fame and the question is not so much when he will retire but rather why should he continue to race. Because, right now, the Doctor has a lot to lose and, all in all, not a great deal to gain.

What energises me is doing what I love, riding the bike, spending time with my friends or simply relaxing. What drains me is doing something I don't like, going to a place I don't want to be in” he explained.

As he approaches 40, Rossi will clearly struggle more than his younger rivals. He may have more experience to rely on, but he also has to train more intensely and, of course, there are other things that weigh, such as travelling, events. This is simply the reality of the situation, rather than the whims of a star.

Yet Valentino doesn't give up, in fact he doesn't appear to have lost any of his enthusiasm. Else he wouldn't have come back so quickly after injury, or battled it out against the youngsters as he did during the Australia GP.

The Phillip Island really energised me, the only better race was Assen because I won it - he comments - it's important to be competitive, i like to improve over the weekend and then be fast in the race. In Australia it was incredible, if you win a race like that you have the energy for another year".

Rossi hasn't made the mistake of some of his colleagues by retiring to then make a comeback with less than brilliant results. He has continued to fight and, to keep up with the changing times,  he has also had to change in himself. With just one aim - to have fun and to win. At any cost, even by making contact...

“I think you should pass without touching other riders, but it's also true that throughout my career I've been very aggressive and sometimes there's been contact. But it used to happen during the last laps, while now it's from start to finish. I grew up learning that motorcycling is not a contact sport... respect? Right now that's a big word. You have to change your behaviour, at first you're angry, you go and speak to the other riders but then nothing changes. You have to be like them.

The rules of the game are changing and you have to adapt, because past titles mean nothing and it's like starting over every Sunday, If you win, you are repaid in energy, if not you feel the fatigue.

Valentino has a pair of scales in front of him - on one side are those sensations that only a win can give you, on the other is the effort needed to achieve that. For as long as the first outweigh the second, the Doctor will continue to race. When the balance alters, he'll have to face the biggest challenge yet, his second life, as a non-rider. Perhaps behind the pitwall, involved in the bike world but in another role.

The contract is signed up until the end of 2018, in the first months of 2017 he will decide whether to extend it and Yamaha will also influence his decision. If they give him a competitive bike, choosing will be easier, further motivation for the Japanese engineers.

Translated by Heather Watson
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