Valentino Rossi is a MotoGP icon, but for his part has great respect for other exceptional talent: What inspired Kevin Schwantz, what he has in common with Michael Jordan and how he raves about Maradona.
Valentino Rossi said goodbye to the Motorcycle World Championship a month ago after 26 years of World Championship, nine titles, 115 GP victories, 235 podiums and 65 pole positions. There is no question that the “Dottore” is one of the great sports personalities.
SPEEDWEEK.com sat down with «Vale» to talk to him about other icons.
Kevin Schwantz: What does he mean to you?
He was a very important driver to me because I was always a fan of Kevin when I was young. He was always my favorite driver because he always inspired me. Because of his driving style, the way he sat on the motorcycle. And also because he was very brave and a really crazy driver. Some of his maneuvers are unforgettable. The fight against Wayne Rainey, the design, the Pepsi-Suzuki … But of course the Lucky Strike-Suzuki too. He wore a helmet that Aldo had designed [Drudi] came from. I’ve known him pretty well since I was young.
A completely different picture: do you recognize this guy right away?
Michael Jordan. I also know him because he became very famous thanks to the shoes and the brand. But I also really like the NBA and always follow it. I think he’s the athlete who made all the difference in his career, from start to finish. Because of his approach, he always wanted to win. And his talent, of course. He didn’t ride a motorcycle, but he’s a great inspiration to everyone.
When he retired from basketball, he started playing baseball. Let’s talk about your second career.
I’ve always said: if I stop racing motorcycles, I would like to continue racing, in racing cars. That was one of my great passions from the start. I started with go-karts before minibikes. I was a four-wheeler before I became a motorcycle racer. So I hope I get a chance to keep racing and I believe in GT3 because that’s my big passion – not on the same level as in MotoGP, but there are a lot of important races and great tracks there, for example Spa and Le Mans. And a lot of great drivers, the level is very high. So I hope to keep going in cars. Because I want to stay a racing driver.
Diego Armando Maradona: Your admiration for him is well known. And you like soccer.
I love football. For me he is on the level of Michael Jordan. He had this magical touch of the ball, “Il genio della palla”, the genius of the ball. “Il mago della pelota”, the magician of the ball. I was young when Diego played in Napoli from 1984 to 1991. He won the championship, which seemed impossible with Napoli. But he was on a different level. He also won the World Cup with a team that wasn’t top-notch.
I got the chance to get to know him better because of him [2008] was in Misano. He came up to me and gave me a kiss on the wrist which, um, was weird! After that we were together in the house of [Salvatore] Bagni, another Italian player, was a guest and Uccio and I got the chance to spend a Tuesday evening with Diego. He told us a lot of old stories, that was an unforgettable moment.
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