MotoGP: "Vale", still green at 41, is also worried about his rascals - France 24

Jerez de la Frontera (Spain) (AFP)

At 41 years old, Valentino Rossi showed on Sunday that he is still capable of finishing on a MotoGP podium but also of worrying about the young riders he is sponsoring in his "VR46" team.

The seven-time world champion in the premier class finished 3rd on the Jerez circuit on Sunday after hanging on to 2nd place for a long time behind winner Fabio Quartararo. The Frenchman is almost half his age and admits openly that Valentino has been his idol since childhood.

If he shows no intention of hanging up - even if the same Quartararo will replace him next year in the Yamaha factory team - "Vale" also vibrates during each Grand Prix for the whole gang. young pilots that he runs within his own team.

“I'm so proud of my guys because we have a great relationship. They never give up and being with them makes me less old, or let's say, younger,” he says. But on Sunday it was more than served ...

It was first Celestino Vietti, 18, who finished 3rd in the Moto3 springboard category. Rossi has revealed that he cut his hand uncorking the bottle of champagne on the podium and that his injury required about 20 stitches. "It's a disaster," he lamented.

Then it was Luca Marini - his 22-year-old half-brother - and Marco Bezzechi, 21, who scared him. Respectively 2nd and 3rd in the Moto2 race, they both finished in the gravel pit as soon as they crossed the finish line after congratulating each other a little too vigorously while still riding their bikes.

Patatras, the two fell but with more dust than difficulty because they got back on their machines to reach the podium.

"When I saw my two motorcycles in the gravel, I said to myself + this is not true", conceded "dad" Rossi. "I saw my brother afterwards in the parc fermé and I told him + no more nonsense, that's enough +".

But the real schoolboy may be none other than Valentino himself.

After his 3rd place in MotoGP, which for him is "almost like a victory" because it is his first podium since April 2019, he stopped on the edge of the track and greeted the bleachers as in the good old days. .. totally deserted because the race took place behind closed doors due to coronavirus.

"It's for everyone who had to stay at home," he said hilariously afterwards at a press conference, appearing for the account almost younger than Quartararo, sitting next to him.

© 2020 AFP