What an unreal career, can't imagine many other Moto GP riders have been that successful for that long.
Where does he stand in the GOAT conversation?
Oh he's the GOAT far and away.
After winning 3 titles in a row with Honda, there was speculation that it was the bike rather than Rossi. That influenced his decision to leave. And he left for Yamaha, which wasn't a super competitive bike at that time...at last compared to the Honda. He defended his title and won the championship in a different make...a very rare accomplishment. He then went on to defend and win 3 more titles with Yamaha.
I can only imagine how many titles he would have won had he just stayed with Honda.