John McGuinness hopes that Rossi can launch a strong title bid during the 2019 season
MCN’s outspoken writer reckons there’s one more title in The GOAT
Whatever way you look at it, Valentino Rossi is a legend. He’s 40 years old and still competing at the highest level of motorcycle racing. Can he still win the title? I’d like to think he can. Troy Bayliss was 40-odd when he won his last title, Max Biaggi won at that age too. And then there’s me!
I mean, look at what Rossi did in Sepang last year before he crashed. He did 12 laps within a tenth of a second of each other and that’s the hottest race of the year. That’s got to be one of the hardest, most physical and humid tracks in the world and it looked like he was going to pull off an incredible win. Okay, so he slid off but that shows he still has the passion and desire to win. That is the definition of digging deep.
He’s at his training ranch every day sticking the work in, so I don’t think there’s any reason he can’t fight for the title. He needs a good start to the year to keep that confidence up. And he isn’t bothered about bashing handlebars these days, he’s changed his style to be quicker in recent years. It’s obviously quite difficult to see past Marquez, but it could happen. The Spaniard is starting the year after shoulder surgery and that’s a big deal, perhaps bigger than he’s making out. It only takes a bad start for Marc to open the championship up a little and for the others to see they have a chance and naturally that includes Rossi.
I guess Yamaha just need to put together the best bike... they’ve had their issues but they’re still one of the best aren’t they? I hope so anyway, it’d be awesome to see Rossi taking it to Marquez again.
‘IT ONLY TAKES A BAD START FROM MARC TO OPEN IT UP’