Valentino Rossi starting the last Grand Prix of the Motogp season on pole, 8 points ahead of his rival Hayden, simply had to finish with some points (not many) to win his eighth world championship title. But, he got a bad start and, on lap 5, had an unforced error in turn 2 and fell off his bike.

Is there something unlucky about winning 8 world titles? Rossi hardly ever, ever makes mistakes like that, but there it was. He tried his hardest to climb back through the pack but it was never going to be enough. Hayden won the championship with 5 points in hand. Rossi finished 13th…

But, the important difference between Michael and Rossi is that Rossi is only 27, and obviously not retiring. He could win an 8th motorbike championship next year, then move to F1 and win 8 more before getting to Michael’s age. Incredible.