RiderTua.com – Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, talks about the effect of Valentino Rossi’s retirement in MotoGP 2022. This issue is complex and affects a very large audience. Boss Carmelo Ezpeleta recognizes the importance of Valentino Rossi in the premier class. The driver from Tavullia officially retired from MotoGP at the end of the season because he was not satisfied with the results. The Italian rider ended his professional career in the premier class by finishing tenth at the Valencia GP. Behind him, in eleventh, is Franco Morbidelli. The latter was a teammate of The Doctor in the first half of the season at Yamaha Petronas before the arrival of Andrea Dovizioso. “People don’t realize how strong he (Rossi) is even these days,” said Ezpeleta.
Valentino Rossi’s retirement has left millions of unstable fans dreaming of continuing to see him in the MotoGP paddock, perhaps riding a Ducati on his team. In 2021, Valentino did not reach the podium in 18 races for the first time in his career. Bad feelings with the Yamaha M1 led him to end his professional career in the top class in Valencia. He continued his racing career to four-wheel racing in the GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS championship.
Apart from his commitment to Audi, the nine-time world champion will also be busy following his team in MotoGP. VR46 Riders Academy has given great talents like Pecco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi the opportunity to reach the top of the premier class. Next weekend we’ll see Vale’s brother and rookie Luca Bezzecchi ride on a Ducati.
Valentino Rossi’s Retirement Effect
On March 4, MotoGP will start warming up ahead of the first race of the year scheduled for Sunday March 6 in Qatar. After 26 years, the world championship will not see Valentino Rossi at the starting line. Attention will be drawn to world champions Fabio Quartararo, Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. These three drivers are favorites for the world title race. Pedro Acosta, on the other hand will grow in the Moto2 class as the next generation in MotoGP.
One of the most complicated issues relates to Rossi’s absence. Carmelo Ezpeleta said in an interview with Italian magazine: Insella that he hopes Valentino Rossi’s retirement will not have much effect in 2022. “I don’t think these people, or most of them, are yet interested in MotoGP. We can’t do anything,” he said.
For the 1000cc class, this is another matter, the only way to see it is to look at the stands of all MotoGP events. Yellow dominated the stands, a symbolic color for Vale, who has fascinated millions of young people during his long career. Carmelo Ezpeleta will try to export the main class to a new reality.
“MotoGP has to develop. When we started in 1992 there were 13 series and now we’re doing eight more and it’s basically another season. This is a consequence of the success of MotoGP and all this to try to cover an important part of the year. Now we’ve had three months of inactivity and it’s not good that sport has disappeared from the media for so long,” said Ezpeleta.
