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The Valentino Rossi era ended Sunday as he rolled past his last checkered flag in a MotoGP race, at age 42 and in his 432nd grand prix start, finishing 10th but just under half a second per lap slower than race winner Pecco Bagnaia, one of his mentees. More than 20 years passed between his first grand prix win in 1996 and his last in 2017, and that unprecedented longevity only hints at Rossi's impact on the sport.
With the MotoGP championship already decided, this last race weekend of the 2021 season became focused even more on the farewell to Rossi, with "Grazie Vale" banners everywhere and a special display of the nine motorcycles on which Rossi won world championships, from his Aprilia in the 125 cc class in 1997 to his Yamaha MotoGP bike from 2009. It was a literal walk down a memory lane for Rossi, and he even provided sound effects.
BT Sport put out this highlight reel, narrated by Colin Edwards. Maybe the most instructive part is how many rivals Rossi has outlasted. Biaggi, Gibernau, Stoner, Lorenzo — great riders all, and all of them retired before him.
From among his 115 grand prix wins, BT Sport also chose the five races shown in the video below as his most amazing performances, culminating with the infamous duel with Casey Stoner at Laguna Seca.
On Thursday, Rossi's fellow MotoGP riders assembled for a packed press conference as he spent the better part of an hour answering questions and hearing tributes from fans. At that press conference, a French writer asked Rossi what he would like to be remembered for. While the longevity and championships and wins are all impressive, Rossi focused on what truly is his most important contribution to the sport.
"I think that the most positive thing in my career is that a lot, a lot of people start to follow MotoGP, follow my career, from the beginning," Rossi said. "And the sport becomes bigger, more famous, in Italy but all around the world. And it is good to understand that during my career I become something different, something like an icon. This is a great, great pleasure. For a rider, it's always more important what happens on the track, the result and everything. But I think this is the best thing of my career."
That is true. Rossi's biggest impact was broadening the appeal of the sport. In most of the world, ask a non-motorcyclist to name a motorcycle racer and the answer will most likely be Valentino Rossi.
Painting the paddock yellow! 💛
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 13, 2021
Take a walk down memory lane for some of @ValeYellow46's greatest hits! 👏#GrazieVale #ValenciaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/2dSyQaSFrk
Almost — but not quite — lost in all the Rossi attention was the departure of two other riders after this race. Swiss rider Tom Lüthi, who was a contender, though not a champion, in the Moto2 class for a full decade, has retired after more than 300 career GP starts. And Danilo Petrucci, a two-time winner in the MotoGP class who is a popular and usually smiling presence in the paddock, is leaving and will race in the Dakar Rally for KTM early in 2022.
Rossi is not leaving racing entirely. He has plans to keep competing, but now on four wheels, not two, and his Sky Racing VR46 Team will be competing in MotoGP and Moto2, including his brother, Luca Marini. The seas of yellow shirts in the grandstands will no doubt be a little smaller, but they won't disappear.
The yellow imprint on motorcycle racing will eventually fade, but not immediately, and the sport is inarguably in a stronger position today because of the amazing career of Valentino Rossi.
