Valentino Rossi: MotoGP star reveals BIG career regret – ‘I deserved it’

MOTOGP legend Valentino Rossi has revealed he regrets not winning a 10th world championship after a number of near-misses in recent years.The Italian has won nine championships throughout his illustrious career and is deemed one of the greatest in MotoGP history.

But Rossi is without a title in 10 years after watching the likes of Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez forge their way to the top of the sport.

And the 40-year-old admits he wants to win that elusive 10th crown before he calls time on his career.

“[Winning 10 titles] is a dream that I still believe a lot in, but it’s also a big regret, because I deserved it,” Rossi said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport this week.

“I lost two titles [2006 and ’15] in the last race, and I’ve also been runner-up many times [also in 2000, ’14 and ’16], so my career deserved 10 titles. It’s also for this reason that I still try.

“Valencia in 2006, if I stayed calm and didn’t crash, I would have won.

“Then there were some things that I don’t know if they were errors or not – moving to Ducati, or moving to Yamaha instead of continuing to win at Honda.

“Then there is what happened at the end of 2015, when I unfortunately lost the championship. But the real error was in 2006, I could have won.”

Valentino Rossi is without a title in 10 years (Pic: Getty)

Rossi is reaching the business end of his racing career and is set to be out of contract in 2020.

But the veteran has not ruled out signing a fresh contract in the future.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said when asked if his current Yamaha deal will be his last.

“It could be the last one, maybe not.

Valentino Rossi is out of contract in 2020

“We are talking about how something will finish before it has even begun.

“I have a lot of desire, and there are two more years.

“But I also start knowing they could be my last. I haven’t decided.”

Source: The Star Images Getty