‘Controversial’ Keith Huewen once shared why Valentino Rossi was no ‘alien’ but Freddie Spencer was

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Valentino Rossi is widely regarded as one of MotoGP’s iconic alien riders of the 2000s and 2010s with Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and latterly Marc Marquez.

MotoGP has Marco Melandri to thank for the term ‘alien rider’ as the Italian gave it to Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa after seeing his rivals dominate amid the late 2000s. Marquez later joined the clutch of aliens upon his instant emergence as a powerhouse threat in 2013.

For many, Rossi was also the best of the aliens as the Italian won seven MotoGP riders’ titles in just nine seasons between 2001 and 2009. Only Nicky Hayden in 2006 and Stoner in 2007 disturbed Rossi’s run of dominance, which Lorenzo in 2010 and Stoner again in 2011 ended.

Marquez now has the chance to draw level with Rossi as a seven-time premier class riders’ champion in the 2025 MotoGP season with Ducati. The Spaniard is furthering his own case to be the greatest of all time after winning six titles in seven years for Honda from 2013-19.

Keith Huewen questions whether Valentino Rossi was a true alien based on his pure riding skill

No rider has won more premier class Grands Prix than Rossi, who secured 89 wins from 372 races during his iconic career. He even registered 199 podiums and 55 pole positions, which Marquez has since eclipsed and pulled clear of after taking 73 poles in the Spaniard’s career.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Valentino Rossi from stats to net worth

Rossi’s allure also grew thanks to his personality, and Keith Huewen once questioned if the Urbino native would be a true ‘alien’ without it. Rossi’s rivalries with the likes of Lorenzo, a rider whom Huewen claims was an alien, also played their part in his appeal to fans globally.

Huewen questions Rossi’s true status as an alien based purely on his performances on two wheels. Especially when you compare the Italian to the likes of Freddie Spencer, who won the 500cc championship in 1983 and 1985 and stunned Huewen when they shared a track.

Huewen once told the Off Track Podcast: “If you distil it down, take away the chickens on the back and the toilet by the side of the track and all the personality stuff. Just take that away and just talk about the actual riding of the motorcycle, and the skill involved in what he did.

“Valentino was obviously a great motorcycle racer, and there’s been other great motorcycle racers. Would I put Valentino in an alien position? Probably not. Now, that’s controversial.

“There are people who do things on a motorbike, Spencer for sure. The first time I followed him at Jarama outside Madrid, down into Turn 1 is like a horseshoe right-hander at the end of it, and I followed him out of pit lane and we didn’t have tyre warmers in them days.

“You didn’t need them with Freddie. Freddie would drop into the first corner and the front would fold [but he would accelerate]. Anyone else would be flat [on the floor] as soon as the front tucked under.

“So, there are certain things that he could do that no one else could work out at the time. Even Lorenzo was a bit special. He was as smooth as you like, the way he rode.”

Valentino Rossi’s off-track antics were key to his appeal, but not what made him special

It takes a brave person to question Rossi’s status as an alien rider after his successes in the 2000s and continued presence at the front of the field until the Italian’s eventual retirement in 2021. But his charm off the circuit was also a major reason why so many fans adored him.

Yet even when you remove Rossi’s off-track antics, you are still left with an exceptional rider who might have won even more premier class titles if a few aspects of his career played out differently. One of those aspects was Yamaha signing Lorenzo in fear of Rossi quitting for F1.

Another aspect was the two operations Rossi required after breaking his right leg in practice for the 2010 Italian Grand Prix. Rossi also only lost out to Kenny Roberts Jr for the 2000 title by 49 points as a rookie, as well as by five points to Hayden in 2006 and to Lorenzo in 2015.