Valentino Rossi to retire at the end of the season?

While rumors regarding Casey Stoner retiring at the end of the season came from the Spanish and Italian press – and was shot down by the 2011 World Champion, this new rumor regarding Valentino Rossi comes from the English media.
According to the The Telegraph’s inside sources Rossi is going to retire at the end of the 2012 season before his legendary status is even further tainted.

Apparently the rumors are based Rossi hasn’t gotten over his 2010 injuries (more likely his shoulder, than his leg) and that Jeremy Burgess will be leaving for personal reasons.

This speculation however clashes with the damage control interview that Rossi did with father Graziano on Le Iene following his post-race outburst at Qatar, where Rossi Sr.
said his son would continue for two, three or more years in MotoGP before switching to World Superbikes.
Rossi is at crossroads in his career, he can’t ride the Ducati to its fullest potential, sponsors are getting impatient and he is getting older in a young man’s game and neither Yamaha or Honda top brass seem willing to have him back in their line-up.

Expect to hear a firm denial to these rumors in the next few hours – just as soon as an out scooped Italian media catches up on the Telegraph’s story and contacts Rossi.