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The good and bad of Rossi's popularity

Valentino Rossi's superstardom has generated a fanatical following, with a sea of yellow dominating the grandstands at most MotoGP events. But such loyalty towards one man can have a dark side, as we saw on Rossi's home turf last weekend

There's nothing unusual about crowds at race meetings being larger on a Sunday than a Saturday. That's the way it's been forever. But there is something unusual about that crowd building into and during Saturday evening, well after qualifying is done and dusted.

And there's nothing unusual about said crowds invading the track after a race, to get as close to the podium as possible. But, again, there is something unusual about the mob booing two thirds of the competitors on the podium.

Previous article Booing made Marc Marquez tone down MotoGP Mugello celebrations
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