MotoGP, Max Biaggi admits: “Rossi won’t be back to how he was”

“Valentino Rossi won’t be back to how he was before”. This is what Max Biaggi had to say when talking to RTL 102.5, after watching the nine-time champ’s fifth race of the season. The Italian crossed the line in eleventh place at Le Mans and has scored points in only two of the five races contested so far. The situation is pretty critical.

Age, an inescapable factor

Biaggi went on to explain: “Valentino finished close to the top ten at Le Mans and perhaps this means that he’s resolved some of the issues, or that the track offered more favourable characteristics. But he’s not the same Rossi”.

Other riders continue to move up from the minor classes, which makes age an important factor according to Biaggi: “There are many young and fast riders, all just tenths apart. It’s so easy to find yourself drop from first to eighth in an instant. MotoGP has become a really impressive championship. In sport, the freshness of youth is almost always fundamental. It’s an incalculable value”. Rossi turned 42 in February and will soon have to decide as to his future, whether to continue or to hang up his helmet for good.

Translated by Heather Watson

MotoGP, Rossi sets the date for his future: “I'll decide after nine races”