Since his retirement, Valentino Rossi has stayed away from the MotoGP paddock – That could change, says Luca Marini and hopes for a bit of Rossi magic
Even though the name Valentino Rossi has not completely disappeared from MotoGP thanks to his own team, the Italian has made himself scarce at the race track since his retirement. The nine-time world champion watched the first two race weekends in Qatar and Indonesia from the comfort of his couch at home.
In Qatar, in particular, he had reason to celebrate, with Andrea Migno in Moto3 and Celestino Vietti in Moto2, two riders from the VR46 academy winning the opening races. In the premier class, Rossi’s half-brother Luca Marini scored the first World Championship points for the new VR46 MotoGP team.
Asked if he thinks Rossi’s presence and experience could help him at the track, Marini is undecided: “Honestly, I don’t know, because we are in MotoGP. The level of people working here is really high. “
“For sure his experience is incredible, maybe he is the man with the most experience in this paddock. So he knows a lot of things,” the 24-year-old said of Rossi. “But my level and also my crew’s level is also very high. I don’t know. We will see when he will be there. “
Marini believes Rossi will surely come to three or four races this season. “Maybe more,” said the Italian. “Then we’ll see if just his presence in the garage, in the pits, will be special and bring us a bit of the magic he’s always had in his career.”
As plans of a dedicated MotoGP took shape, it was clear from the outset that Rossi would not take an active role in management and would rather stay in the background. Especially as the 42-year-old is busy enough as it is.
In recent weeks, he welcomed his daughter Giulietta into the world, did laps at the ranch in Tavullia as well as at Misano during a training session with the academy and completed a pre-season test in the WRT Audi. This means that the ex-MotoGP driver will compete in the GT World Challenge in 2022.
