Agostini untroubled by Rossi record-breaking

A MotoGP legend and a man regarded by some as the greatest rider of all time, Giacomo Agostini saw his premier class win record broken by Valentino Rossi at this year´s race in Indianapolis. The previous milestone of 67 had been matched by the 2008 MotoGP World Champion at the preceding race in Misano.

Another attendee at the EICMA show in Milan, Agostini revealed that Rossi´s taking his record for that particular honour had not made him overly concerned, and took the opportunity to remind fans of his other achievements in a barbed bouquet of sorts.

`Regarding records, I congratulated him on beating mine because I wasn´t that bothered about it. I won 123 world championship races, 13 world titles and 301 races in total, they´re the numbers I´m interested in,´ said Agostini wryly. `Valentino asked me if it was okay to overtake me if he ever beat that and it was nice to be so well respected like that from someone like him.´

Rossi also joined Agostini in becoming the only riders to win premier class World Championships with a two-year gap between title triumphs. Although the MotoGP Legend was full of praise for the achievements by the man regarded as his natural successor –both in terms of success and charisma- he would not commit to whether this would be the start of another era of Rossi dominance.

`It´s difficult to find the words to describe Valentino. This was one of his best ever seasons and he did it coming back from some difficult moments and that makes it even more special.

`Valentino is incredibly talented and has lots of experience, which probably made the difference this year. However, Casey Stoner can´t be ignored after what he did in 2007. I also think we´ll discover two new riders who will take them on: Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. Watch out for them,´ warned the Italian.