Is there a better case for the prolonging and rejuvenating effects of adrenaline than MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi? Around the endlessly curving Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia this weekend – where braking forces will still require shedding 125mph in four seconds at Turn 1 – the Italian will conclude his 23rd year of motorcycle grand prix racing.

Rather than ebbing further back into the pack as he turns 40 next February, Rossi is just as relevant as the first days and seasons when his character, colours, antics and style made a global impression for motorcycle racing and boosted the profile of MotoGP to new levels.

In Sepang, Malaysia two weeks ago he came within five laps of his 116th Grand Prix victory and first of 2018 in what was his 382nd start (he has missed the top step of the podium in only two of his 23 seasons) after a spellbinding performance that dazzled some of the younger rivals.

Current rival Jack Miller, the sole Australian in MotoGP, who was only 14 months when Rossi made his Grand Prix debut in 1996, says: “The consistency and the closeness of those laps is something to be jealous of.

“As a rider you look at those laps and you think, f**k, that's good. And in that place, where it's so hot, humid and it's just miserable on the bike… for him at his age, and for his condition, it shows he wants it.”