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Valentino Rossi after his 432nd race
Photo: JOSE JORDAN / AFP
Motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi has ended his active career.
At the season finale in Valencia, Spain, the 42-year-old Italian finished tenth in the MotoGP class.
In the run-out lap, the entire field of drivers said goodbye to the starting number 46. After crossing the finish line, the Yamaha rider was celebrated by the fans with fireworks and ovations.
For the 42-year-old Rossi, the Valencia Grand Prix was the 432nd and final World Championship race.
"Dottore" Rossi competed in the motorcycle world championship for 26 seasons, raced 235 times on the podium and landed 115 Grand Prix victories.
The hugely popular racing driver won the last of his nine world championship titles in 2009.
In the coming year Rossi will get his own MotoGP team, the drivers are his half-brother Luca Marini, 24, and Marco Bezzecchi, 22.
Quartararo new world champion
The victory at Rossi's farewell race went to the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), a driver from the academy of the series world champion.
The Spaniard Jorge Martín and the Australian Jack Miller (both also Ducati) completed the podium.
World champion Fabio Quartararo (France / Yamaha), who had already secured the title in the premier class, finished fifth on Sunday.
Directly in front of him, the dethroned Spanish ex-champion Joan Mir (Suzuki) finished the last race of the season in fourth place.
mfu / sid / dpa