Marco Bezzecchi
VR46 team owner Valentino Rossi will miss this weekend’s German Grand Prix because of his involvement at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The iconic motorsport festival announced last month that Rossi would be one of this year’s headline participants alongside F1 world champion Lando Norris.
Rossi has been present at just two MotoGP races this year (the Catalan and Czech Grands Prix), missing the other nine.
Valentino Rossi needs to do more to support VR46
Rossi, who retired from MotoGP in 2021, continues to race in sportscars. When there is a clash between the two championships, one can excuse his absence.
But skipping a MotoGP weekend to take part in Goodwood is another matter. It points, rightly or wrongly, to plain disinterest.
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Rossi gave 25 years of his life to Grand Prix racing, and that’s only counting the years he was active. He can be forgiven for not attending all 22 rounds, but he should be doing more to support his team on the ground.
VR46 announced this week that their star rider Fabio Di Giannantonio is leaving to join KTM.
Clearly, the opportunity to ride for a factory team is difficult to turn down, but might Rossi’s neglect have also played a part?
Di Giannantonio ‘would love’ to have Rossi at every race because he provides a ‘massive boost’ and is able to spot ‘microscopic’ details in the data, but his support has been limited.
“When Vale is there the whole team is even more pumped,” Di Giannantonio said last year. “You can feel his energy a lot when he’s there.”
“Having him in the pit box, being able to have a word with him in person is not the same thing as hearing from each other via text message. His presence, besides making me proud, can give you that extra something.”
If Di Giannantonio were able to work closely with a transcendental figure like Rossi week-in, week-out, a contract extension would have been far more tempting. As it is, he’s largely relying on ‘text messages’.
Rossi is entitled to view VR46 as a business venture, but he doesn’t seem to realise that he is the team’s biggest asset.
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