Capirossi: “The 500 bikes still reign supreme, I’d like to ride my Honda again”

Valentino Rossi’s last race and the subsequent farewell party are still very much in the minds of both the spectators who watched and the paddock staff. These include Loris Capirossi who offered his own comment about Valentino’s retirement and spoke about the NSR500, seen back in the paddock during the official farewell press conference.

Capirossi and his duels with Valentino: “Always correct, but fast”

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Loris Capirossi, a former team-mate but also rival of Valentino, spoke about the Doctor’s retirement. “Valentino has left an indelible mark on the history of the world championship. I was there for his whole career, from the start up until Sunday. I battled with him from 1998 to 2011, he was always correct as a rival, but very fast, and he beat me more often than I beat him. He has done so much good for our sport, bringing fans who would otherwise never have come. The fact that Sunday was his last race leaves a big hole, he’ll be missed and I personally will really miss him. He’s a life-long athlete, he won’t stop. It’s true that he’s going to race cars, but he’ll be back here too, because he has a team in MotoGP.”

Loris then adds: “I retired exactly ten years ago at Valencia, and now him, ten years later. He was very fast in Sunday’s race, but time passes for everyone and, like all good things, there’s a beginning but also unfortunately an end”.

“I’m still in awe of the NSR500”

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Capirex closes by thinking back to his time aboard the Honda NSR500, after taking a picture next to the 2001 version that brought Valentino his first and only 500 title. “I am still in awe of that bike. The 500 bikes, and that one in particular that I rode the year after, still reign supreme in this sport and I’d really like to ride one on track again, although I think it would be difficult if not impossible”.

Translated by Heather Watson

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