There are a lot of records held by Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), but the ‘Doctor’ now has another new and truly unique one to add to his collection: he’s raced the equivalent of a lap of the world. Completing the incredible feat during the Spanish GP at Jerez, that’s 40,075km raced over 23 seasons, beginning at the 1996 Malaysian GP.
Those initial 101.645 kilometers at Shah Alam in the 125 World Championship have since been added to by Rossi’s incredible career through the 250 and 500 World Championships on the way to MotoGP™, making a grand total of 369 Grands Prix. From those GPs, completed race laps are those counted and Rossi has put in 8730 of them to reach the milestone. Before the lights went out in Jerez, the kilometer counter was at 40,011.413 – leaving 63.587km to complete and the milestone passed upon conclusion of Lap 15.
8730 laps, 23 seasons, 369 Grands Prix, 115 victories, 64 poles, nine World Championships…and a lap of the world!
By the end of the race, Rossi was even closing in on the podium - but it wasn't to be. Nevertheless, the 'Doctor' took a top five finish at the venue where he has the most wins of anyone on the grid.
"The fifth place with my speed over the weekend is not so bad," begins the rider from Tavullia. "But we were lucky because three guys in front crash, the problem is that we are happy because we do the maximum, the race was quite good but unfortunately this is our potential now."
He goes on to say that, despite gains from a tough race last year, there's more still to do: "I was a lot faster compared to last year but it’s not enough to the fight for the podium, our technical situation is different, if we want to fight for the podium and the victory, Yamaha have to help us. And I hope we can do it soon."
The next race, however, is Le Mans - where last year the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP teammates fought it out down to the last lap. That makes Rossi more positive as he now starts out on his second circumference of the Earth.
"For me in Le Mans we can be more competitive but I don’t know if it’s enough for the win, if it’s enough for the podium or if it’s enough to arrive in the top five! I don’t know, we’ll have to see. But I think in Le Mans we can be a bit faster."
That's in two weeks as the Championshop returns to the Bugatti circuit.