Valentino Rossi says 2015 makes him « even angrier »

Valentino Rossi says the events of 2015 make him even angrier today. As he presented his autobiography, the former rider returned to his controversy with Marc Márquez and reiterated that his view of the affair had not changed.

« The story of 2015 is even more absurd and makes me even angrier now because Márquez was not fighting for the championship; Lorenzo and I were. He was only fighting to make me lose, and in the end he succeeded. That is something you never forget; it still hurts », Rossi said. He says that when he thinks about that period, he returns to the same state of mind he had in Valencia, and admits that this persistence worries him a little. He adds that he sometimes tries to focus on what he won rather than what he lost, while believing that defeats hurt more than victories bring joy.

Rossi presented his autobiography, written with journalist Giorgio Terruzzi. As a preview of its release, he appeared the previous evening on a television programme in his country. He also spoke there about his nine world titles, his beginnings and the influence of his father, Graziano Rossi.

« I put myself very much out there. I had wanted to write it for years, and we saw it through to the end, leaving nothing out and telling everything that could be told. Everything I could say without getting arrested is in the book », he joked.

The interview also touched on the end of his career. Rossi said he had always loved racing and had spoken with Schumacher and Troy Bayliss, whom he had seen regret their decisions to retire. He said that had led him to promise himself he would keep racing until he could no longer do so. Since his last time crossing the finish line, he says, that chapter has been closed: he has never considered returning to MotoGP.

Rossi also shared a previously untold anecdote about his first Ferrari test, in 2004. To keep the test secret, the group slept at the Fiorano circuit, in the house where Enzo Ferrari had his office. After waking late, Rossi and Uccio, dressed for the beach, ran into Jean Todt. Todt asked Uccio whether there was a swimming pool. Rossi concluded, laughing, that his chances of driving a Ferrari had fallen by at least half.