One of the Best GP Racers Ever

THE CURRENT MOTOGP SEASON BEGAN WITH A thunderous roar in Qatar as the grid full of four-stroke missiles charged towards the Losail circuit’s first turn. The sound was very different from the one of 20 years ago — the shriek emitted as two-dozen 500-cc machines left the Suzuka grid in what would prove to be the beginning of the end for racing’s two-stroke era and its most successful machine.

That 2001 season would confirm the arrival of a superstar in Valentino Rossi, who rode Honda’s yellow Nastro