MotoGP: Honda Team Manager feels Valentino Rossi's time is up

What's the story?

Repsol Honda team manager Alberto Puig insisted that Valentino Rossi is having a hard time accepting that his glory days in the premier class have come to an end.

In case you didn't know...

Valentino Rossi is an Italian rider who made his Grand Prix motorcycle racing debut in 1996. Since then, the prolific Italian has managed to secure seven MotoGP titles and is only second to Giacomo Agostini.

Rossi's last MotoGP title came in the year 2009, and the Italian has failed to capture the championship since then. His closest approach came in the year 2015 when he lost the championship to his teammate Jorge Lorenzo in the final race of the season at Valencia.

Age seems to have finally caught up with the Italian as he failed to secure even a single race win in the 2018 season. However, Rossi still managed to finish third with five podium finishes.

The heart of the matter

While speaking to Spanish daily La Vanguardia, Alberto Puig said, "Valentino has been a terrific rider. He has all of my respect."

"At his age [39], he still has the desire, the talent to go fast and he doesn't accept not being able to win.

"At no time have I seen Marquez out of line, doing anything malicious towards Rossi. It was always race incidents.

"I respect Rossi, but in life, everything has its moment. And like it or not, Marc is number one."

Also, Puig insisted that Marc Marquez is close to a perfect rider right now, and with his age, the Spaniard would only get better with time.

What's next?

Rossi will be a part of the 2019 Grand Prix Motorcycle racing season and a couple of race wins in the first half of the season might force Honda's team manager to reconsider his words about the veteran rider.