Misano Adriatico (Italy) (AFP)

Moto GP legend Valentino Rossi saw his efforts to bring a new generation of successful Italian riders to the top with Franco Morbidelli's triumph at the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Francesco Bagnaia, two students of his "Academy".

At 41, Rossi has also proven again that he can still fight for the top spots.

Arriving 4th, he missed the podium by a hair after being overtaken on the last lap, not without hanging on to 2nd place for a long time.

"It's a shame to have lost the podium because if I had managed to share it with Franco (Morbidelli) and + Pecco + (Francesco Bagnaia) it would have been extraordinary", regretted "Vale" after the race.

Morbidelli, winner on Sunday, and Bagnaia, his runner-up on the podium, both come from his "VR46" driving academy, whose name is made up of his initials and his race number.

Located in Tavullia, his residence, a few kilometers from the Misano circuit where the race took place, it is a real breeding ground for riders, all Italians, and not only in MotoGP.

On Sunday, his half-brother, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, who are part of it, took the first two places in the Moto2 race, the antechamber of MotoGP.

"The Moto2 race was also an unforgettable moment even if it is always difficult to see two of its riders compete," said the man who won seven world titles in the premier class and does not intend to hang up anytime soon. .

When they are not his brothers, they could almost be sons.

Morbidelli is 25, Bagnaia 23, just like Marini, and Bezzecchi 21.

But when they're all together in the paddock, they're a bunch of friends, seeming to have come to have as much fun as they've won.

- "Blessing" -

Rossi arouses genuine reverence among his proteges.

"I want to thank everyone but first + Vale +. I owe him everything and to have the chance to race with him is a blessing," Morbidelli said after his first MotoGP victory on Sunday.

"But I really wanted to beat him to show him that he made a good choice by placing his confidence in me," he added.

During a previous Grand Prix in Spain at the end of July, which had seen his protégés perform well in Moto3 and Moto2 - and himself finish 3rd in MotoGP -, Rossi had confided: "I am 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. "

Because the native of Urbino refuses to age.

His last title dates back to 2009, his last victory in 2017 and he missed on Sunday what would have been the 200th podium of his career in the supreme category, which began in 2000.

All of this contributes to its legend and the fact that the stands at MotoGP races are still studded with bright yellow, its color.

But they must have given way over the past ten years to orange, the color of Spaniard Marc Marquez, 27.

Six-time champion and title holder, he would have tried to equal Rossi this year if a broken arm during the first round of the championship had not yet kept him off the slopes.

- "Well done the VR46" -

As much the relationship of the "Doctor", another of his nicknames, with his young foals is good, as those with Marquez are detestable.

In the small world of MotoGP, the Italians and the Spaniards, if they work together and appreciate each other, are a little jealous.

It is thus a young Spaniard, Joan Mir, 23, who snatched 3rd place at Rossi at the last minute on Sunday and then said he wanted to overtake him at all costs.

Faced with this Italo-Iberian armada, it is however a Frenchman, Fabio Quartararo, who asserted himself at 21, as the revelation of the last two seasons.

But there are only two French riders in MotoGP, Quartararo and Johann Zarco, and there are none in Moto2 and Moto3.

Asked if he too planned to do one day like Rossi and encourage young French pilots to climb the ranks, Zarco, 30, found him difficult.

"Well done the VR46", he told AFP after the race, recalling that his pilots are in Misano at home and know the track by heart.

"But I will never earn enough money to create an empire like the VR46, especially as long as I live in France", he quipped.

However, he does not rule out helping a young driver, Lorenzo Fellon, the son of his former manager Laurent Fellon.

Only one, where Rossi sponsors nearly ten.

© 2020 AFP