Marco Bezzecchi
Valentino Rossi won seven premier class titles and an all-time record 89 Grands Prix amid his MotoGP career, yet could arguably have added even more titles to his tally.
The Italian wasted very little time before cementing his spot at the front of the MotoGP grid. After finishing second to Kenny Roberts Jr in his rookie season, Rossi won his first riders’ title at the second go for Nastro Azzurro on a factory Honda NSR500 in the 2001 500cc season.
Titles would flow regularly after that with Rossi winning five in a row, before later adding the 2008 and 2009 crowns to the Urbino native’s haul. The 2010 title may also have been his but Rossi broke his right tibia and fibula at the 2010 Grand Prix of Italy and he missed four races.
Toni Elias made Valentino Rossi ‘angry’ as their 2006 Spanish Grand Prix crash at Jerez cost him the title
Nicky Hayden also denied Rossi the 2006 riders’ title by only five points before Casey Stoner dominating the 2007 MotoGP season helped to see the Italian finish the year sat third in the standings. Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez even prevented Rossi from adding further titles.
Rossi ultimately lost out to Hayden in 2006 as the American’s consistency for Honda sealed the Kentucky Kid the crown. He ended seven of the year’s 17 Grands Prix off the podium but only retired once, while the Italian with Yamaha missed out on seven and retired from three.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Valentino Rossi from stats to net worth
Toni Elias also believed for a long time that Rossi felt the Spaniard cost him the 2006 title by winning that year’s Grand Prix of Portugal. Elias secured what proved to be his only win as a MotoGP rider at Estoril in 2006 when he beat Rossi in a photo finish by only 0.002 seconds.
“When I met Valentino – and I see him in Austin every year – I could see that he still has it in his heart,” Elias said in 2020, via Autosport. “He has not forgiven me.
“It’s over, it’s time to be friends, but it’s not possible. He’s so competitive that he’s stuck with it, he’ll never forgive me.”
But Rossi rejected Elias’ view as while the Italian did remain ‘angry’ with the Spaniard, it was for crashing into him at Turn 1 on Lap 1 of the 2006 season-opening Grand Prix of Spain. The Yamaha rider re-joined the race at Jerez, but he would finish it in P14 whilst Hayden took P3.
“When I met Toni Elias in the United States – because now he runs there – there were only positive moments,” Rossi said in 2020, via VisorDown.
“We have a good relationship and I’m not angry with him because he beat me in Portugal, but because he knocked me out in first corner during the Spanish Grand Prix.
“In that season, Jerez was the first race of the year and immediately made me lose points and probably also the championship.”
Toni Elias cost Valentino Rossi far more at Jerez than in the 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril
Rossi had made Jerez his playground from 2001 until 2005 with four Spanish GP wins, a tally he also added to in 2007, 2009 and 2016. He is even the most successful rider in the history of the Spanish GP. But the points Elias cost Rossi at the 2006 Spanish GP also cost the title.
Fortuna Honda rider Elias clipped Rossi at the apex of T1 and pitched the Yamaha rider into a furious spin. Rossi could not hide his anger at the incident and punched the air before the Italian remounted to try and rescue a race which Loris Capirossi won ahead of Dani Pedrosa.
The points Elias cost Rossi at Jerez far outweigh the five he denied him by winning at Estoril in the penultimate round of the 2006 season. Yet Rossi still led Hayden by eight points after the Portuguese GP and ultimately lost the title by ending the Valencia Grand Prix in just P13.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
