In Bradley Smith’s opinion, Dorna has in Valentino Rossi a marketing tool, taking advantage of the admiration the Yamaha veteran has from viewers. At age 39, Il Dottore has been in the MotoGP World Championship for more than two decades, being the most titled of the current category of the premier class.

Speaking to the Telegraph newspaper, the british began by saying: ‘Rossi’s popularity is a product we are led to believe. People like nostalgia… they forget how it used to be in the past. Valentino has been here for 20 years and this is a life for several people in the competition. I think our current video audience has seen and supported Valentino and he has won for so long that people stay with whom they believe’.

Smith later said: ‘He has done much in the past and captured the imagination. Dorna uses Valentino a lot as a marketing tool and always puts it in a positive way, which also has an effect for people who like it. He’s also very good with the press and his team does a great job of creating that’.