Valentino Rossi laughs off retirement story on radio show

You’re Italy’s most famous motorcycle racer (after Giacomo Agostini) and you wake up around noon and before you drink your first coffee of the day, you turn on your phone only to find out that the entire world is spinning Britain’s Daily Telegraph story that you are retiring at end of the season, and maybe even before.

Naturally Valentino Rossi denied the story first via Twitter, but Radio DJ (the guys who towed Rossi’s M1 with a 1963 Fiat Cinquecento from New York to Indianapolis in a promo event back in 2009) called him up while he was having lunch (he was eating cuttlefish with peas) and had a brief chat with him (podcast link here) and the Italian was in good spirits laughing away the story saying that it isn’t true and that it was invented and that he doesn’t who the journalist’s sources are.

The Ducati rider also said that every year someone has him retiring and towards summer someone reports that he is going to become a father and someone always says he’s going to Ferrari.

He was asked about his post race Qatar interview and admitted it was to shake up Ducati and make them move.
Ducati is expected to bring in a new spec engine for the Silverstone GP if Rossi and Hayden are happy with it following their upcoming private test at Mugello later this month and a complete package upgrade for Laguna Seca (July 29th).