Riders Preferred Membership
Shop by Vehicle
Track Order
Contact Us
During the SHARK Grand Prix de France this past weekend at Le Mans, MotoGP announced that Valentino Rossi's number 46 will be retired in a ceremony at the next round, the Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley at Mugello, a track where Rossi had so much success. That immediately revived an old discussion: Is retiring numbers from competition a good thing?
Some people in the paddock think it is not, and Rossi may be one of them. Several years ago, when Marco Simoncelli's number 58 was being retired, Rossi said he'd be happy to see his number remain in competition once he was retired.
Simon Patterson not only tweeted his opposition, but wrote a strongly worded opinion piece at The Race, explaining why he thinks retiring a number doesn't honor a racer, but rather removes his legacy from the scene. He wasn't the only commentator to take that opinion.
No numbers in motorcycle racing should ever be retired. If you have the courage, you should run the number, and accept the criticism if you can't live up to the expectations that number creates. https://t.co/yojxkdKl82
— David Emmett (@motomatters) May 14, 2022
The issue is further complicated by the fact that there has been no consistent standard for when a number is retired. It's not based on success. There's the MotoGP Legends program for that and even deciding who gets into that club isn't always straightforward. Retiring numbers seems almost a random occurrence. For example, the 34 of Kevin Schwantz was the first number retired though the numbers of riders who won more titles have not been withdrawn. Loris Capirossi's 65 was retired though he never won a premier-class championship.
In recent years, numbers have mostly been retired due to the premature death of a racer. That's the case with Nicky Hayden, 69, Simoncelli, 58, Daijiro Kato, 74, and Shoya Tomizawa, 48 (in Moto2). Last year, the number 50 of Jason Dupasquier was retired from use in Moto3 after his death.
Although the 69 is retired in MotoGP, a few riders in MotoAmerica, most notably Hayden Gillim, have continued using Nicky Hayden's old number as a way to pay tribute to one of their racing heroes. Nicky's younger brother, Roger, who is now a commentator for MotoAmericaLive+, has said the Hayden family enjoys seeing the number stay in competition.
So what's the right way to honor great success in racing or remember a racer lost too soon? Is it to retire the number or keep it on track? Have your say in the comments.
