Valentino Rossi’s partner: “We have a daughter, 300kph won’t make me feel good!”
Rossi retired a year ago after winning seven world championships in the premier class and establishing himself as the sport’s biggest ever superstar.
Now 43, he has completed a debut season on four wheels in the GT World Challenge Europe series and his partner has detailed the difference.
“Now he has fewer races, he is more present and I am much more serene,” Francesca Sofia Novello told Grazia.
“We have a daughter and seeing him ride a motorcycle at 300 kilometers per hour would not make me feel good.
“I've always had a bit of anxiety. I never let it weigh on him, because we are talking about Valentino, he is a champion and this is his world.
“Racing in the car, the adrenaline never fails. And also from the point of view of media attention nothing has changed.
“Of course, it's a less popular championship than MotoGP, but people follow him and would do it even if he played marbles."
Rossi and Novello welcomed their daughter Giulietta into the world in 2022.
"Valentino and I were in Barcelona, Spain, for the car championship and for the first time there was also Giulietta,” Novello said.
“It was what I dreamed of: to be there together. I have always been a companion present and finally she was there to cheer for her dad.
“My comment on the photo was a bit misunderstood and there were not very nice jokes, but it's just the ugly side of social media.”
She explained how Rossi has slowly got to grips with using social media to talk to fans: "For him it's a totally new world. Even communicating on Instagram was something he didn't understand so much, but we support each other.”
Novello and Rossi met in 2017 at the Monza Rally. She explained their life now: "For five years I have moved permanently to Tavullia. Here I found a family full of love.
"Marriage? Who knows. Valentino is my life partner, my accomplice in everything. Let's see where life will take us. We hadn't planned to become parents so quickly, but now we're overjoyed. Little did I know that becoming a mother was such a wonderful gift: it's like being born a second time.
“Giulietta made sense of it all. It has united what Valentino and I are: I didn't think I could feel such a strong feeling towards someone who turns your life so upside down, in a positive way. My friends ask me: isn't it challenging? It's like I have my heart inside someone else's. And for Vale it's the same."
