Maradona meets Rossi at San Marino contest

Sunday, 31 August 2008

Football icon Diego Maradona, one of several celebrity guests at Misano on Sunday, chatted to motogp.com before the race got underway and wished Valentino Rossi well on the MotoGP grid.

Argentinian football legend Diego Maradona was on the Misano grid ahead of the MotoGP race at the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini on Sunday afternoon.

The 1986 World Cup winner who played in Europe for several years at clubs including Barcelona and Napoli was delighted to be back on Italian soil enjoying the Rimini sunshine and the Grand Prix atmosphere.

He told motogp.com, `It is always great to come back to Italy and to see Valentino here surrounded by all his fans is a real pleasure. He is a big part of the story of the sport and there was no way I wanted to miss this! I am very happy to be here because I have waited for it for a long time.´

Having greeted the World Championship leader before the race, which Rossi of course went on to win, Maradona gave his thoughts on the 2008 title battle saying, `Well I hope it is Valentino Rossi who wins because he does so much for the sport. He is a figure like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan who I would love to meet as well.´