The year 2018 wasn’t easy for Valentino Rossi. For the first time since joining the Ducati, the Tavullia veteran didn’t win any race during the season, having been his last triumph for more than a year and a half – at the Dutch Grand Prix of 2017.

In an interview with Canale 5, in which he received the Tapiro d’Oro prize – a traditional award from the Striscia la notizia program to ‘compensate’ those who have a less good sporting year – Rossi didn’t hide his bitterness for not having reached the MotoGP triumphs in 2018… although he acknowledges that he even finished a victorious year on two wheels:

– It was a difficult season. I couldn’t even win a single race, and that displeases me a lot. Yes, I won the 100km from Campioni. Me and Franco Morbidelli fought against [Mattia] Pasini and [Lorenzo] Baldassarri until the last second and we managed to win.