Mick Doohan’s brutal put-down after Valentino Rossi equalled his Grand Prix win tally

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Mick Doohan is arguably the greatest motorcycle racer born outside Europe. Doohan’s tally of 54 premier-class wins ranks him fourth on the all-time list.

Only Valentino Rossi (89), Marc Marquez (73) and Giacomo Agostini (68) can beat that figure. Doohan produced one of the most dominant sequences in history between 1994 and 1998 as he won five straight championships.

Doohan’s win rate of 80% in the 1997 season is the highest ever achieved in a campaign lasting longer than 10 races. Even Marquez’s best effort – 72% in 2014 – falls short.

Doohan gave Marquez advice during an injury-plagued spell at the start of the decade. The Australian’s career was very nearly ended by a crash at Assen in 1992; doctors even considered amputating his leg afterwards.

Mick Doohan said Valentino Rossi’s lower-class victories shouldn’t count

Rossi beat Sete Gibernau in one of the closest finishes ever at the 2003 Czech GP. The margin as he crossed the line was just four-hundredths of a second, and Troy Bayliss was also within seven-tenths.

This was The Doctor’s 54th win in Grand Prix racing and another step towards the 2003 MotoGP title on the Honda.

Afterwards, Doohan was asked for his thoughts on Rossi equalling his win tally, but he rather brutally pointed out that the Italian was only on 28 wins in the top tier.

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“In F1, they don’t count F3000 and F3,” Doohan said, via Motor Sport Magazine.

Rossi would eventually tie Doohan’s premier-class record at the 2006 Qatar GP. He then went on to set the ultimate benchmark.

Casey Stoner says Mick Doohan is MotoGP’s GOAT

Marc Marquez named Doohan on his dream MotoGP grid earlier this year alongside the likes of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. That underlines how much he’s respected by his successors.

Indeed, Casey Stoner regards Doohan as the greatest MotoGP rider ever. The numbers may not be on his side, but Stoner says he showed an ‘extremely tough mentality’ by fighting back from the Assen injuries.

After a single year in World Superbikes with Yamaha, Doohan spent his entire Grand Prix career on a Honda and was rewarded for his loyalty in his sixth season when his title streak began.