If Valentino Rossi and Ferrari have known each other for a while, the contact between the new Ducati rider and Fernando Alonso is more recent.
“We got to know each other better last year at Maranello when Valentino came to collect his Ferrari,” said the Spanish driver. “He’s a very nice guy and as a rider there’s not much to say: he’s won nine world championships and he’s the best in the history – and, perhaps the future – of motorcycling because it will be very difficult to repeat his results. He’s loved all over the world and that is another virtue: the passion that Vale arouses is like a tenth world title. A challenge between us? I can’t say anything certain but perhaps at the end of the season, in December, there could be a surprise: on two wheels, four wheels or however many wheels that people would like...”