Motorsport history is full of iconic moves that raised questions at the time but ultimately proved to be major coups for a marque. Michael Schumacher’s switch to Ferrari in 1996 as the Italian brand’s Formula 1 title drought stood at 15 years and Lewis Hamilton’s switch to an inconsistently competitive Mercedes in 2013 – one year ahead of the hybrid switch that helped to propel him into F1 legend – are among those that spring to mind.
The motorcycling equivalent came in 2003, when Yamaha managed to convince Honda’s Valentino Rossi to join it for the 2004 MotoGP season. In the fullness of time, history reflects brilliantly on the Rossi/Yamaha partnership – a 16-season collaboration, split into two parts (2004 to 2010 and 2013 to 2021), which yielded four world titles for the Italian and 56 grand prix victories in all.
But at the time, it was a move deemed extremely risky for Rossi, who was already a three-time world champion in the premier class. He’d won the final 500cc…
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