Valentino Rossi retired from motorcycling with the end of his MotoGP career after 2021 – dedicating himself to car racing from 2022 onwards. However, the conclusion of his journey in two-wheel motorsport could have been different.
Remo Gobbi, owner of Pata – a longtime friend and sponsor of Il Dottore – revealed to the website GPOne.com that he tried to convince Rossi to compete in the World Superbike Championship:
– I was disappointed with the way he ended his motorcycle career because he deserved a different ending. In fact, I advised him several times to finish in Superbikes. It would have been a good ending, as a protagonist with Yamaha.
The businessman was prepared to invest in Rossi’s transition to WSBK, as he stated: ‘If he had decided to ride the R1, I was already ready to step up with the investment, but in the end, this is how things turned out. However, Valentino entertained and thrilled us’.